The previous blog ended with Dr. Stoops (Forgiving the Unforgivable) commenting that we want to make certain offenses ‘unforgivable’ because we have misperceptions regarding what forgiveness is and is not.
In order to check our belief system regarding forgiveness, Dr. Stoops states that it’s important to define exactly what is meant by forgiveness. He cites this description of forgiveness by David Ausgburger in The Freedom of Forgiveness: “To forgive is, in the English langauge, and extended, expanded form of the verb to give. By intensifying the verb, we speak of givng at its deepest level, or self-giving, of giving forth and giving up deeply helpd parts of the self.” In other words, forgiveness benefits ourselves as well as the other person.
With this definition in hand, the next series of blogs will deal with myths and truths about forgiveness.
