“And forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors…if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you” (Matt. 6:14);
“If you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your heavenly Father forgive your trespasses” (Matt. 6:15).
“Repent, and let each one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 2:38)
Holy Fathers on Forgiveness:
St. Isidore: “Write the good on tablets of stone, and the offense on water.”
St. John Chrysostom: “If we sincerely wish to be reconciled, we will not yield to our enemy until we have defeated him by strong entreaties, until we have drawn him to us and made him cease enmity against us. Are we showing him any mercy by doing so? No, the fruits of a good deed pass upon us: by this we attract the favor of God, we obtain forgiveness of sins, we receive great boldness before the Lord.
“Nothing makes us more like God than when we forgive evil people who offend us.”
“The more someone has sinned against us, the more we should seek to forgive him, because he becomes the reason for a multitude of sins to be forgiven.”
St. Basil the Great: “A Christian should not remember evil, but he is obliged from the heart to forgive those who have sinned against him.”
St. Rev. Ephraim (Syrian: “If you, man, do not forgive everyone who sins against you, do not bother to fast and pray. If you do not forgive your brother who has angered you in something, you fast and pray in vain – God will not accept you.’
St. Demetrius of Rostov: “God forgives only those who do not forgive themselves.”
St. Nikolay Velimirovich of Serbia: “Do not write down your neighbor’s sins: if you write them down, half of them lie on you; if you forget them, the Lord will also forget your sins.”
Photo: Icon Christ / Ikoni Mahnevi, https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100057324623799
