who should be forgiven?

Question

im writing an essay for school on the subject "who should be forgiven and do they have to earn that forgivness?"
i want as many opinions as possible so i can get all sides. anything is acceptable, religion or not. thanks for helping :)

Answer 1

Based on the Bible/God's Word. Everyone, all the time.

Matthew 18:21-23
21Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?"
22Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.
23"Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants.

Luke 6:29-31
29If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. 30Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. 31Do to others as you would have them do to you.

Matthew 6:14-15
14For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

Mark 11:25
25And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins."


I'm not so great, but I continually pray to be better at it.

Answer 2

Think about the worst thing you have ever done..did you deserve forgiveness? Did you want forgiveness? Was it given to you even if you didn't deserve it or was it withheld when you did? I think that people should be forgiven for anything as long as the person is showing true regret and not following that same path that led to the mistake. I don't think it needs to necessarily be earned but once it is given it needs to be maintained.If they get forgiveness and continue doing what is wrong then you have a right to turn your back.

Answer 3

Interesting. Well in the biblical sense Jesus said that we should forgive without taking note of the amount of times.

Matthew 18:21 "Then Peter came up and said to him: “Lord, how many times is my brother to sin against me and am I to forgive him? Up to seven times?” 22 Jesus said to him: “I say to you, not, Up to seven times, but, Up to seventy-seven times."

Jesus was not here setting a higher number but simply setting a standard of forgiveness. A person would have to keep account of the injury in order to know when not to forgive. So the idea is that we continue to forgive. Where does that leave clearly evil people or those who do not want forgiveness? There are crimes that are truly wicked and generally these crimes leave the criminal without the desire or inclination to be forgiven. Where is there any room left for them to be forgiven then? Perhaps none. But then perhaps such decisions should be left to a much higher source than men.

Answer 4

I consider the comandments - the law of sin, right? A thief is a sinner, yet would you say a mother stealing bread to feed her hungry children is a sinner? Much of life is subjective and so we have a concience to help us determine right or wrong. When we know we are wrong, we often punish ourselves more than anyone else could. When we know we are right, we are never even troubled with the question.

For that reason, we are everyone of us equal and I think either all of us do or none of us do. Even the most evil people in our history felt themselves doing the right thing. When all is said and done, we should all be forgiven.

Peace!

Answer 5

I believe that the person that asks for forgiveness should mean it. It seams that people ask but don't always mean it. If they are sincere than it should be granted. The person that is doing the forgiving should do it also in their time. If a murderer asks a family to forgive him, they may not be ready at that moment. But maybe years down the road they will forgive him.
Forgiveness is like love not always easy to do or to receive. Eventually one learns to open up themselves to do such a huge gesture to ask for or to do the forgiving.

Answer 6

In Christianity, All are forgiven if they accept the forgiveness given freely by accepting Jesus and his sacrifice for our sins.
You do not have to do anything to "Earn" this forgiveness, only accept it.

Answer 7

1 John 1:9 says that if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from ALL unrighteousness.

Romans 3:23 says that ALL have sinned

so, since ALL sinned then ALL can be forgiven but you must
BELIEVE John 3:16
REPENT Acts 3:19
CONFESS 1John 1:9
RECEIVE Rev 3:20

Answer 8

Multi millionaires that do not help less fortunate people, sick, weak and unlucky. they should be forgiven since they are so selfish that you can do nothing to make them think beyond themselves. if i had millions of dollars, I would help poor families that have kids that are sleeping on the floor and have no food. I would support needy families that are facing disaster after disaster. I would try to make the world a better place by sharing, caring and loving.

Answer 9

According to the bible everyone is able to be forgiven for their sins. But in order to have forgiveness we have to be truly sorry for the things that we have done... in other words try the best we humanly can to not commit those same sins again...

Answer 10

People who learn from their mistakes, try to do better in the future, apologize to whoever they have wronged, try to make up for any harm that they have done, and renew their commitment to being a better person and to making the world a better place.

The only exception is people who have commited such awful crimes that they have crossed the line and are beyond forgiveness. Examples would be violent rape, murder, and sexually abusing children.

IMHO