Does setting the priority of "seeking God's forgiveness" minimize "making things right" whose who are harmed?

Question

If your priority is getting God's forgiveness for sins, without making things right with the people that have been harmed, how is this ethical or justifiable?

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Does this priority help explain why the Bishops handled the Catholic priest sex abuse cases in the way that they did?

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Answer 1

It isn't justifiable nor ethical.
Jesus says it best, "If you are praying, and you have any sin or wrong against another, you should stop praying, seek out the wronged person and apologize and make things right with them FIRST, then return to your prayers and ask God's forgiveness and know that then He will be faithful to hear you from Heaven and will forgive and forget your sins & answer your prayers."

Almighty God, the prophets of The Old Testament, Jesus, the Disciples of The New Testament REPEATEDLY warn and remind mankind, that those who "come in My Name" and "who preach and teach in My Name" are held to the HIGHEST standards in Almighty God's eyes. Any church or religious organization that proclaims they are believers in and followers of Jesus Christ should be quick to seek out and to stamp out any sin, wrong-doing, or unethical behavior within their leadership ranks. The church should have investigated, and then stopped the abuse within their churches when it was first reported and proven. The abuser(s) should have been defrocked & expelled from the church or organization immediately, not moved to a new parish church where their behavior was unknown.

Jesus says it best, "It would be better to tie a millstone around your neck and hurl yourself into the sea, than to mislead or abuse any within your flock."

Almighty God will reserve His harshest judgments for those who do evil in His or His Son's name.

Answer 2

In this age of grace we arent seeking Gods forgiveness, but thanking Him that it has already been provided at the Cross two thousand years ago. Its a matter of believing we already HAVE that forgiveness UP FRONT.

We are to make things right with those we offend here on earth, as much as it is possible. Since the truth by its very nature is offensive...this wont always be a possibility, but we should make the effort.

Answer 3

How can one get forgiveness without trying to make things right with the person/people who've been harmed? As a Christian, to me, that is just part of the process of seeking forgiveness. God might forgive us, but we need to work at the other end for forgiveness, too. The other end is the one(s) whom we've harmed.

Answer 4

How do you "make things right"?

If you kill someone do you commit suicide? Do you allow someone else to lock you in a cage? Maybe you become a slave to the family of the person you killed?

There is no making things right. Life is not fair. No matter what anyone ever does the sin is still there. The only thing anyone can do that is reasonable is to learn from it and not do it again.

I understand that people want revenge, they want to get back at people who have hurt them. This is one of the sinful things that Man does. Judge others and take revenge.

You can't "make it up" to anyone.

You can become a better person and help others become better people. You can donate money, do charity work and help make the world a better place.

There isn't any conning God. There isn't any pretending to be "Born Again". God knows the heart of the person.

People who do not admit they make mistakes and learn from those mistakes go to Hell. No parole, No commute of sentence, No time off for good behavior.

People who learn from their mistakes go to Heaven.

PS: Matthew 18 gives us instructions on how to handle a tresspass and how often we should forgive.

Answer 5

No. I think we cannot expect forgiveness from God if we have not sought forgiveness from others, or if we have witheld forgiveness of others. Jesus told the parable of the servant who owed his master a great sum, he begged his master's mercy so the master forgave the debt, then the servant went out and beat up a man who owed him a small amount.
I think the motivation behind the actions of the Catholic Church regarding abuse has more to do with power and money than with a spiritual justification.

Answer 6

Anybody who thinks that they can seek God's forgiveness without doing our level best to make things right with those that we have harmed obviously has no idea what Christianity is all about.
That person needs to get to know Christ...

Answer 7

Yes, it seems to in many cases. Christians do not generally follow up with making amends unless they get into a 12-step program and learn about the significance of making amends. Generally, the whole "Jesus paid for your sins" schtick tends to make Christians a bit careless about justice.

Answer 8

I don't think so. Part of the hoops one would jump through to gain God's forgiveness is to seek the forgiveness of the
one(s) that have been harmed.

Answer 9

BACK in the day, making reparations to those that you had sinned against WAS a part of the process. Perhaps THAT is why the world is so messed up---when christians changed the atonement process they forgot to include 'cleaning up your own messes.'

Answer 10

If you're just trying to buy peace with God by just praying, know that they're warming you up a seat -Down There-.

Seeking God's forgiveness means getting up your @ss and making it right, not kneeling down and say "I'm so sorry... but I won't do anything about it..."