What Is Required of the Forgiven

Many people are skeptical of written statements of remorse submitted by defendants in criminal court, viewing them not as expressions of genuine remorse but as attempts to obtain lighter sentences. In fact, there is something that can carry even more weight in a criminal trial than an offender’s statement of remorse. It is the victim’s forgiveness. A single statement expressing the victim’s wish that the offender not be punished can carry more weight than dozens of statements of remorse from the offender.

Those who commit crimes should, of course, be held accountable for what they have done. Yet for victims who have already suffered through no choice of their own, choosing not to seek punishment for the person who hurt them is anything but easy. It takes rare compassion to hope for a new beginning for someone who has caused you profound and lasting pain. To forgive that person unconditionally is harder still. Perhaps that is why stories of victims who forgive without expecting anything in return and embrace those who wronged them touch us so deeply. Such forgiveness also places a profound responsibility on those who receive it: to change and make every effort to build a new life.

In His great mercy, God freely forgave us, though we had committed sins in heaven deserving of death and were awaiting eternal punishment. No matter how hard we tried, salvation would have remained beyond our reach if God had not forgiven us.

As God endured the suffering of the cross and paid the price for our sins, there was only one thing He desired from us: true repentance. We may shed bitter tears of remorse over what we have done, but if we continue to commit the same sins without changing our ways, our repentance is little more than an outward show. To keep God’s sacrifice from being in vain, we must firmly resolve never to commit the same sins again but to live an entirely new life, and our actions must change accordingly. God’s mercy knows no bounds for His children who truly repent and are being made new.