The Limit of Forgiveness

"I thank you, Lord, for forgiving me, but I prefer to stay in the darkness: please forgive me of that too." - No; that can't be done. The one thing that can't be forgiven is the sin of choosing evil, of refusing to be rescued from the all too comfortable darkness. It is impossible to forgive that. To forgive a willingness to stay in the dark and refuse the light, would be to take part in it.

- Based on a quote by George MacDonald

This is important to me because it helps me deal with a struggle I know I share with some Christians that are close to me. It is the struggle about forgiveness. I think most Christians believe that we are to follow God's lead, to use Christ and the life He lived as presented in the Gospels as a template for our lives. One difficult lead to follow is His teaching on forgiveness. Most people who have read the Bible or been around church know what I mean when I say 7 times 70. If you're unfamiliar, it is from instruction that Jesus gave to one of the disciples who asked him how many times he should forgive someone that sins against him. Christ tells Him via hyperbole that the forgiveness we should offer is, in essence, unlimited. If I remember right, the question is framed in a way that presupposes the person needing forgiveness actually comes to you and confesses a wrongdoing against you. There would seem to be an out there on forgiveness. Only forgive if they are willing to come to you and confess. If they do that, do not run out of forgiveness for them. If that's not the case. then this poses a difficulty that I don't know if even MacDonald's quote gets us out of. What if someone knows what they did hurt you, but they are unwilling to turn from the hurtful behavior. What if they're unwilling to turn away and seek forgiveness and reconciliation with you? What are you to do? I don't fully know. An option that seems right is to stay open to that person. Stay willing to forgive. Don't let your heart turn to stone against them. Maintain the attitude of openness, of willingness to take them in when they come to you, for at least as long as with God's help that attitude can be sustained. Logic seems to dictate that forgiveness can't be grasped and used for the better of all by a person unwilling to grasp it.