Song 'Forgiven' by Sanctus Real:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3F9z54g30Eo

The song, Forgiven, is based upon the Bible verse "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." (Matthew 11:28-30).  Sanctus Real's Matt Hammitt said in an interview with Behind the Song writer Kevin Davis that "Accepting forgiveness and applying it in our lives is powerful. I had underestimated the power of forgiveness."
Source: http://www.newreleasetuesday.com/article.php?article_id=327

God forgives our sins, but will he continue to forgive us if we commit the same sin over and over?
Answer at: http://www.gotquestions.org/forgive-same-sin.html

Interesting perspectives:

"There is no revenge so complete as forgiveness."
- Josh Billings

"Always forgive your enemies - nothing annoys them so much."
- Oscar Wilde

"Forgiveness is the sweetest revenge."
- Isaac Friedmann

"If we say that monsters [people who do terrible evil] are beyond forgiving, we give them a power they should never have...they are given the power to keep their evil alive in the hearts of those who suffered most. We give them power to condemn their victims to live forever with the hurting memory of their painful pasts. We give the monsters the last word."
- Lewis B. Smedes

Tina Turner struggled with the decision to leave her husband in the movie 'What's Love Got To Do With It?' It seemed like she forced herself to forgive him.

Movie: What's Love Got To Do With It?
https://youtu.be/Nbzbd2wUGao

"Sometimes choices are made in the name of forgiveness while what is occurring isn't forgiveness at all. It is important not to confuse being forgiving with denying your own feelings, needs, and desires. Forgiving doesn't mean being passive and staying in a job or a relationship that clearly doesn't work for you or is abusive. It is important that you are clear about your boundaries. What is acceptable for you? If you are willing to allow unacceptable behavior again and again in the name of 'forgiveness,' you are more than likely using 'forgiveness' as an excuse not to take responsibility for taking care of yourself or as a way to avoid making changes."
- Robin Casarjian, Forgiveness: A Bold Choice For A Peaceful Heart

"Forgive a wife-slammer if you can. But you don't have to live with him. Forgive a husband who is abusing your children if you can. But only after you kick him out of the house. And if you can't get him out, get help. It's available. In the meantime, don't let him near the kids, and don't let anyone tell you that if you forgive him it means you have to stay with him. [There's an important difference between forgiving a person and tolerating their bad behavior.]"
- Lewis B. Smedes, The Art of Forgiving: When You Need To Forgive And Don't Know How 

"When we forgive evil we do not excuse it, we do not tolerate it, we do not smother it. We look the evil full in the face, call it what it is, let its horror shock and stun and enrage us, and only then do we forgive it."
- Lewis B. Smedes

"You can forgive someone almost anything. But you cannot tolerate everything...We don't have to tolerate what people do just because we forgive them for doing it. Forgiving heals us personally. To tolerate everything only hurts us all in the long run."
- Lewis B. Smedes, Forgive & Forget: Healing the Hurts We Don't Deserve

#MainMessageForToday
For some, to forgive someone is to effectively tolerate their bad behavior. But forgiving someone for the wrong that they did does not mean that you tolerate their behavior. You can choose to forgive but move on like a wife who forgives her husband for beating her but leaves him. Punishing a person for their bad behavior is one way to show that you do not tolerate it. It could also help with forgiveness.

From the song 'Forgiveness and Love' by Miley Cyrus:

I can't tell you what the future holds
Or how to live,
All I know is what feels right,
Lights up my life again and again.

The only thing that our hearts are made of
Are the acts of forgiveness and love,
The only thing real when push comes to shove
Are the acts of forgiveness and love.

'Cause in the end no one loses or wins,
The story begins again and again
With forgiveness and love.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MA8Xx-r6No0

The movie 'Maleficient' is a great example of how difficult it is to forgive and how love could affect our decision to forgive and do what is right.

https://youtu.be/w-XO4XiRop0

"The remarkable thing is that we really love our neighbour as ourselves: we do unto others as we do unto ourselves. We hate others when we hate ourselves. We are tolerant toward others when we tolerate ourselves. We forgive others when we forgive ourselves. We are prone to sacrifice others when we are ready to sacrifice ourselves."
- Eric Hoffer

"Sometimes forgiving was easy for me; sometimes forgiving was a very bold choice. Whatever kind of choice it was, it always led me to a more peaceful heart. It always left me happier and free to move on to create healthier relationships with others and with myself."
- Robin Casarjian, Forgiveness: A Bold Choice For A Peaceful Heart

"Forgiveness is a funny thing.  It warms the heart and cools the sting." 
- William Arthur Ward

"To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you."
- Louis B. Smedes

Dr. Steve Maraboli
Jan 11 tweet: Forgiveness is a reflection of loving yourself enough to move on.
https://twitter.com/SteveMaraboli

"One forgives to the degree that one loves."
- Francois de La Rochefoucauld

"We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us."
- Martin Luther King

"There is no love without forgiveness, and there is no forgiveness without love."
- Bryant H. McGill

"To forgive is the highest, most beautiful form of love. In return, you will receive untold peace and happiness."
- Robert Muller

"The hatred you're carrying is a live coal in your heart - far more damaging to yourself than to them."
- Lawana Blackwell, The Dowry of Miss Lydia Clark

#MainMessageForToday
Love yourself enough to forgive because a life full of resentment, anger and hate will do more harm to you.  You may still have hurt or resentment, but you have to control yourself so that you do not repay evil for evil. Choose to not act on it. Do not replay the events over and over in your mind.
Over time, you should forget about the hurt.

Song 'I Forgive You' by Kelly Clarkson

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kC56loGq3J8

WHAT WOULD YOU DO?
Would you continue to work with a partner that caused problems in your life and stole from you?

Forgetting about the past does not mean forgetting the lessons from the past. The lesson may be to not do business with someone again.

"...[I]t is important to differentiate between forgiveness and trusting someone again.... So you may be willing to forgive a business that messed up a deal but nevertheless decide not to work with that business again. Or forgive an abusive partner, but never be in a relationship with that person again. Or even forgive those who committed a crime against you, but still believe they should be punished."
- Alina Tugend, Sometimes It’s Good Not to Forgive
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/23/your-money/why-its-not-always-good-to-forgive.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

"Inner peace can be reached only when we practice forgiveness. Forgiveness is letting go of the past, and is therefore the means for correcting our misperceptions."
- Gerald G. Jampolsky, Love Is Letting Go of Fear

"Forgiveness is an inner correction that lightens the heart. It is for our peace of mind first. Being at peace, we will now have peace to give to others, and this is the most permanent and valuable gift we can possibly give."
- Gerald Jampolsky

"Resentment is one burden that is incompatible with your success. Always be the first to forgive; and forgive yourself first always."
- Dan Zadra

"Resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will kill your enemies."
- Nelson Mandela

"Without forgiveness life is governed by... an endless cycle of resentment and retaliation."
- Roberto Assagioli

"As long as you don't forgive, who and whatever it is will occupy a rent-free space in your mind."
- Isabelle Holland

"People have to forgive. We don’t have to like them, we don’t have to be friends with them, we don’t have to send them hearts in text messages, but we have to forgive them, to overlook, to forget. Because if we don’t we are tying rocks to our feet, too much for our wings to carry!"
- C. JoyBell C.

"Not to forgive is to be imprisoned by the past, by old grievances that do not permit life to proceed with new business."
- Robin Casarjian

From Dan Waldschmidt's 19 Hard Things You Need To Do To Be Successful....
#16: You have to be kind to people who have been cruel to you.
http://www.businessinsider.com/hard-things-you-need-to-do-to-be-successful-2014-1

#MainMessageForToday
Forgiveness is difficult, but it is necessary for a peaceful, successful life.

Song about moving on and growing stronger from your past.


The right attitude....

From the song 'Life Goes On' by Leann Rimes:

Life goes on, life goes on, life goes on

You sucked me in and played my mind,
Just like a toy, you would crank and wind.
Baby, I would give till you wore it out,
You left me lyin' in a pool of doubt,
And you're still thinkin' you're the Daddy Mac,
Should've known better but you didn't and I can't go back.

Wish I knew then what I know now,
You held all the cards and sold me out.
Baby, shame on you if you fool me once,
Shame on me if you fool me twice,
But you've been a pretty hard case to crack,
Should've known better but I didn't and I can't go back.

Oh, life goes on and it's only gonna make me strong,
It's a fact, once you get on board,
Say goodbye 'cause you can't go back.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_osEv_FY4gs

"If you can't forgive and forget, pick one." 
- Robert Brault, www.robertbrault.com

"Forget and forgive. This is not difficult when properly understood.
It means forget inconvenient duties, then forgive yourself for forgetting.
By rigid practice and stern determination, it comes easy."
- Mark Twain

C.S. Lewis
Jan 15 tweet: "Everyone says forgiveness is a lovely idea, until they have something to forgive." #CSLewis
https://twitter.com/CSLewisDaily

"It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend." 
- William Blake, Jerusalem

"It's far easier to forgive an enemy after you've got even with him."
- Olin Miller

"Forgiving is love's toughest work, and love's biggest risk.  If you twist it into something it was never meant to be, it can make you a doormat or an insufferable manipulator.  Forgiving seems almost unnatural.  Our sense of fairness tells us people should pay for the wrong they do.  But forgiving is love's power to break nature's rule."
- Lewis B. Smedes

"What we forgive too freely doesn't stay forgiven." 
- Mignon McLaughlin, The Neurotic's Notebook

"I worry about fast forgivers. They tend to forgive quickly in order to avoid their pain. Or they forgive fast in order to get an advantage over the people they forgive. And their instant forgiving only makes things worse...People who have been wronged badly and wounded deeply should give themselves time and space before they forgive...There is a right moment to forgive. We cannot predict it in advance; we can only get ourselves ready for it when it arrives...Don't do it quickly, but don't wait too long...If we wait too long to forgive, our rage settles in and claims squatter's rights to our souls."
- Lewis B. Smedes, The Art of Forgiving: When You Need To Forgive And Don't Know How 

"Forgiving does not usually happen at once. It is a process, sometimes a long one, especially when it comes to wounds gouged deep. And we must expect some lapses...some people seem to manage to finish off forgiving in one swoop of the heart. But when they do, you can bet they are forgiving flesh wounds. Deeper cuts take more time and can use a second coat."
- Lewis B. Smedes, The Art of Forgiving: When You Need To Forgive And Don't Know How 

People tend to say, "I'll never forgive you for saying ...." or "I'll never forgive ...."
Do they really mean it?
Example:
'I'll never forgive him for what he said': Jacqueline Jossa 'disgusted' by fiancé Dan Osborne's stab threats to the mother of his first child
By Nola Ojomu for MailOnline
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-3153195/Jacqueline-Jossa-admits-disgusted-fianc-Dan-Osborne-s-stab-threats-claims-s-punished-enough.html#ixzz3kUeXpfcF

#MainMessageForToday
Forgiveness is tied to healing from the hurt. How long does it usually take you to forgive?

"I will learn to let go what I cannot change,
I will learn to forgive what I cannot change,
I will learn to love what I cannot change."
- From the song 'What I Cannot Change' by LeAnn Rimes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvOyi6mYIWs

"There's no point in burying a hatchet if you're going to put up a marker on the site."
- Sydney Harris

"No one ever forgets where he buried the hatchet."
- Kin Hubbard

Bury the hatchet
http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/bury+the+hatchet

"You will know that forgiveness has begun when you recall those who hurt you and feel the power to wish them well."
- Lewis B. Smedes

"'I may have forgiven them, but I’ll always hold it against them' … Okay, that may sound logical, but it’s not forgiveness.
Forgiveness is a releasing of emotional guilt you place upon the other person. It’s a choice we make that happens in the heart. It’s not a release of responsibility or an absence of healthy boundaries, but it is a conscious choice to remove the right to get even from the person who injured you. It’s a release of anger and the right to hold a grudge."
- Ron Edmondson
http://www.ronedmondson.com/2011/10/5-ways-to-tell-if-youve-forgiven-someone.html

For some, forgiving is forgetting.

"I can forgive, but I cannot forget, is only another way of saying, I will not forgive.  Forgiveness ought to be like a cancelled note - torn in two, and burned up, so that it never can be shown against one."
- Henry Ward Beecher

This seems to make sense:

"Forgiveness is not forgetting. 'Forgive and forget' seem to go together. However, the process of forgiving involves acknowledging to yourself the wrong that was done to you, reflecting on it, and deciding how you want to think about it. Focusing on forgetting a wrong might lead to denying or suppressing feelings about it, which is not the same as forgiveness. Forgiveness has taken place when you can remember the wrong that was done without feeling resentment or a desire to pursue revenge. Sometimes, after we get to this point, we may forget about some of the wrongs people have done to us. But we don’t have to forget in order to forgive.
- http://www.pbs.org/thisemotionallife/topic/forgiveness/understanding-forgiveness

"Forgetting is something that time takes care of, but forgiveness is an act of volition, and only the sufferer is qualified to make the decision."
- Simon Wiesenthal

#MainMessageForToday
How and when do you forgive? Do you have to forget the wrong to forgive?

Amazing!

Matthew West’s Inspiration For Song ‘Forgiveness’
Grammy-nominated musician Matthew West was so inspired by Renee Napier’s story and her ability to forgive her daughter's killer that he has included it in his new book "Forgiveness" and on his latest CD "Into The Light."
http://katiecouric.com/videos/matthew-wests-inspiration-song-forgiveness/


From the song 'Forgiveness' by Matthew West:

It’s the hardest thing to give away
And the last thing on your mind today
It always goes to those that don’t deserve

It’s the opposite of how you feel
When the pain they caused is just too real
It takes everything you have just to say the word…

Forgiveness

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMn0QNdiuGE

"Anger makes you smaller, while forgiveness forces you to grow beyond what you were."
- Cherie Carter-Scott

"Genuine forgiveness does not deny anger but faces it head-on."
- Alice Duer Miller

"Forgiveness does not mean that we suppress anger; forgiveness means that we have asked for a miracle: the ability to see through mistakes that someone has made to the truth that lies in all of our hearts. Forgiveness is not always easy. At times, it feels more painful than the wound we suffered, to forgive the one that inflicted it. And yet, there is no peace without forgiveness. Attack thoughts towards others are attack thoughts towards ourselves. The first step in forgiveness is the willingness to forgive."
- Marianne Williamson

"Forgiveness is God's invention for coming to terms with a world in which, despite their best intentions, people are unfair to each other and hurt each other deeply. He began by forgiving us. And he invites us all to forgive each other."
- Lewis B. Smedes

"Strength of character means the ability to overcome resentment against others, to hide hurt feelings, and to forgive quickly."
- Lawrence G. Lovasik

"Forgiving those who hurt us is the key to personal peace."
- G. Weatherly

Theme for the week 8/30 - 9/5: #Forgiveness.