Wow–that’s awesome that you made that first move to call after 4 years. Good for you, Joanne! I’ve found it often gets harder and harder to do something like that, the more time slips by. But how wonderful that now you can be set free from it, even though the apology still didn’t come. Thanks for sharing this!

It is an enlightening little quiz. Hope it revealed some insights to you too, Lyli.

I was surprised “Accept responsibility” wasn’t higher on my list because that’s important to me too. I got a chance to exercise that last night when I needed to apologize to Jeff. 🙂

I’m like you in not wanting to call somebody out if I think they’ve wronged me. I’d rather just keep quiet and try to handle it by myself without making a fuss about it. And sometimes that IS the right thing to do, but often it’s not. For any of the parties involved. Hard stuff.

The thing I struggle with is when to call someone on what they did. The Bible does talk about love covering a multitude of sins, so sometimes I think I should just let it go. But I am not confrontational, and there are times it would be better to talk it out than to let it keep coming up in my own heart. But whether I let it go or feel the need to bring it up, I need to deal with it in one of those ways. My natural tendency is to let it fester. :-/ I was jolted recently to realize that carrying a grudge is really unforgiveness – that was an eye-opener.

“Nothing but grace works.”
Exactly, Mari-Anna. We need grace to start the forgiveness; we need grace to follow through with it; we need grace to be forgiven ourselves. So thankful that our Father is faithful to provide it all!

Your series has been SO helpful, Beth. I always read it, even when I don’t comment. Learning how to better forgive is a huge spiritual discipline that we all have to practice over and over. Personally I know I still have much work to do in learning to forgive quicker and more completely so I appreciate others who help me see through my flimsy excuses. 🙂