Should I forgive someone who's not sorry they send on this edition of Truth and Love?

I'm Heath Lambert, and you're listening to Truth and Love, a podcast of the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors,

where we seek to provide biblical solutions for the

problems that people face. This week, we're going to talk about forgiveness on the podcast. And I have

often said that one of the most controversial teachings in the Bible is the teaching on the command

to forgive. One particular example of this is in Matthew, the command to forgive.

One particular example of this is in Matthew, chapter 18, where Jesus gives the most extensive teaching on forgiveness in the Bible, and he tells the story of an unforgiving servant.

He tells this story about a man who's forgiven a massive debt, but will not then turn

around and forgive his fellow servant a comparatively smaller debt. And he is punished for his

lack of forgiveness by being thrown into prison by his master until the text says that he should pay

the last penalty. And the haunting words that come at the

end of Jesus parable come from Jesus himself. And in Matthew 18, verse 35, it says, my heavenly father will

also do the same to you if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart. So this is a command to forgive,

and not to forgive even superficially, but to forgive at a profound level in the heart.

I say that this is controversial because as people living in a fallen world, we can be

sinned against in profound ways. And so we must forgive. We're commanded by

Jesus Christ to forgive, but knowing that we are commanded to forgive does not answer all the

questions, does it, Amy? No, and I think many people wonder, okay, Jesus wants me to forgive, but should I only forgive someone if they've asked for this forgiveness, or should I forgive those who aren't sorry over their sin?

Yeah, this question is the one Christian spend the most time talking about.

We know as Christians who have been forgiven of our sin by Jesus that we must forgive others,

but the real practical question is, should I forgive if someone's not sorry that they send

against me? Should I forgive if someone has not asked for forgiveness?

...