A question to Christians. When you suffered a lot of hurt and offence from other Christians........?

Question

and in the church, how did you (I am assuming you did) get over it? I am assuming too that possibly for a time that you ceased fellowship.

How did you forgive, forget and move on? I am just unable to forgot or forgive the religous bastards who screwed me, all in the name of Jesus, all the way from the average church goer to the senior pastor.

So I would dearly like to know someones success story of how they overcame the offence of other Christians. And I mean, genuinely overcome, not clenched teeth and growling, brooding and simmering underneath a veneer of respectability.

Ummm......cyncial chick. I'm there already. Unfortunately. And I'm trying not to be there.

But thanks anyway. I think. Lol.

Answer 1

Forgive as God in Christ has forgiven us - Ephesians 4:32

Give grace to all who hurt you we have the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness to reign in life - Romans 5:17

Unforgiveness eats us up not the people who offend us. So it is to our own advantage to forgive and be obedient to God.

Answer 2

I stay in a city where the first question used to be - "are you a Catholic or a Proddy?" We have had a lot of Irish immigrants in the past and more recently immigrants from Eastern Europe and the middle east - I swear, they have all made a positive and a negative impact upon life within my home city. Even the two main football teams here, (soccer for you yanks) have been predominantly split along religious grounds. Some still see that as reason enough to start getting verbally abusive and physically violent (it's only a game!).

Fortunately, both the city fathers and the respective football teams have seen that this is the 21st century and nobody benefits long-term from such sectarian rivalry.

As a proud Scot, I think we should be more open and able to accept ANY form of religion because we are mature and have developed an inner confidence regarding our own beliefs. I know I try to be as open minded as possible. Don't mistake me as being perfect - I have the same problems as anyone else - I'm only humans. I see the trials of dealing patiently with others and what I learn from those encounters as my contribution to my own development of my character and self-image.

I am strong enough to stand alone - but ask you to join me in making this series of small personal changes - by doing so, I think we can move the world.

Answer 3

Unfortunately people who claim the name of Christ often don't act like they know anything about Him.
It doesn't matter if you go back to that church or not and it isn't about them. They will have to answer to God for the cowardly, cruel way that they treated you.
The Bible says "And when you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone; that your Father which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses." Mark 11:25&26
So the problem is that you MUST forgive them because God Himself has required it of us. This will be hard because you don't want to forgive them because you feel justified in your anger. Jesus, however, had even more reason to feel vengeful towards those who abused Him but He chose to forgive us even though we didn't deserve it.
You have to follow His example. You have to forgive them even though they don't deserve it and may never care if you forgive them or not. You have to do this for your own benefit and because without forgiveness of others you will not be able to have a full relationship with God.
Whether you are really a Christian or not it is much better for your emotional and mental health if you forgive these people. However, if you claim the name of Christ then you MUST forgive them in the same way that Christ forgave us.
This is just one of those "hard things" that following Jesus requires.
There are many books that you can buy that can tell you about the process of Christian forgivness plus there are probably web sites that you can go to. I would suggest finding one of these so that you will know how to go about this difficult process.

Answer 4

Does this includes Non-Xians who have suffered at the hands of the more Fundmentalist Xians?

It's not worth re-listing my experiences (answered a similar question a week ago) but my comment to the rest of your question. I do not have a religious requirement to "Forgive" but I can (& do) Pity those Zealots. Pity that they miss so much richness in life being swamped in their hatred.


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Answer 5

I just reminded myself that the churches and organizations are run by humans and therefore flawed . My belief is in God and His Word . Not in a church . I respect the ones that choose to go to church and hopefully they are reading the Bible not just listening to what they are told in church . It's just not for me . Too much politics . We can't be happy until we forgive . Prayer helps and time .

Answer 6

I burned down their houses. Amazingly, this provided instant relief from all my resentments.