Must I only forgive my enemy if they ask me for forgiveness?
438528
If they don't ask you forgive them in your heart. No one is better than anyone.
490572
We must ask for forgiveness in order to maintain our fellowship with the Lord.  Our relationship will not be severed, however, if we fail to ask for forgiveness after every sin we commit.
843955
ask Jesus to forgive you
1166137
No. i would not forgive them. they are obviously not your good friend so you should not worry about what they think of you. you should find better people to talk to!
147230
No you don't. And don't think that you are alone bro. I dealt with this issue and found it just to be the enemy shaking skeletons from your closet in front of you in hopes in making you ineffective. Use it to your advantage by lifting your hands and eyes toward heaven in thanksgiving and praise toward the Lord. Here is what I pray when this happens to me. "Lord Jesus, the enemy just reminded me to praise and thank you that your mercies are new every morning. That you have thrown all my sins as far as the East is from the West, and that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus! So now I am going to spend the next 5 to 10 minutes just singing my favorite praise song to you..."\nNow think about it. That prayer is like fingernails down the chalkboard to the enemy. How many more times will he remind you of your past before he can't take it anymore?\nCorrie Ten Boom wrote, "God takes our sins and throws them into the depths of the sea. Then He posts a sign that reads, 'No Fishing Allowed'."
103897
Once you repent and ask God to forgive you of something, you are forgiven. Not only does he forgive you, he also remembers it no more. So you need not worry about that. However when you sin there are still consequences. For example if you drink and use drugs for a long time, you may damage your body, or if you mess up financially, you may find yourself stuck in debt. Or if you offend someone, there's still a damaged relationship to be dealt with. You will still have to deal with the consequences even though you are forgiven. But take heart, God doesn't leave you to deal with them on your own. He stays with you and heals you, weather it takes a long time or a little, he does take care of us.\n\nAs for the desires of your heart, God knows better than you do what you want, what you need, and what will benefit you. Of course he wants you to pray and make your requests known, but that doesn't mena he'll always give you what you want when you want it. Again, He knows best. He may not give you what you want because he knows it's not the best thing for you. Or perhaps the timing is not right, and he will give you what you want at the best time (later). It may also be that he wants to teach you to wait on him and trust him.\n\nIn any case, just trust him. He is your father and he loves you more than you will ever imagine. He also sees all things. He knows everything that will happen to you in your life and he truly knows what's best. Also rest assurred he has forgiven you of everything you've repented for. You need only repent once for a sin and it is completely forgotten by Him. So forgive yourself. God has forgiven you, and those past sins will never count against you.
1143779
Sometimes its worth it to give kindness to your enemies. They wont expect it and going against their expectations is a way to keep them off balance and you out of their traps. Perhaps being sweet to your enemy could turn the situation around and they might be less impassioned about harming you. They is really only so much that hatred, anger, and meanness can accomplish. If your enemy is starting to be sweet to you it could mean that they actually respect you, they might want to lessen the conflict, or they could be trying to trick you. Respond in kind and wait and see. It depends on whether it is sarcastically sweet or whether there is genuine warmth and/or affection there. Even if they are deciding to be nice to you now, they have a ways to go to earn your trust. You can be nice to someone and not trust them, you know.
646942
We are called to love NOT retaliate\n\nRom 12:14\nIf people persecute you because you are a Christian, don't curse them; pray that God will bless them. 15When others are happy, be happy with them. If they are sad, share their sorrow. 16Live in harmony with each other. Don't try to act important, but enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don't think you know it all!\n\n    17Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. 18Do your part to live in peace with everyone, as much as possible.\n\n    19Dear friends, never avenge yourselves. Leave that to God. For it is written,\n\n   \n    "I will take vengeance;\n       I will repay those who deserve it,"\n       says the Lord.\n\n    20Instead, do what the Scriptures say:\n       "If your enemies are hungry, feed them.\n    If they are thirsty, give them something to drink,\n       and they will be ashamed of what they have done to you."  21Don't let evil get the best of you, but conquer evil by doing good.
230797
Yes for most people. Giving someone else a second chance also says a lot about yourself. Some things simply cannot be forgiven, but they tend to be things of a violent nature. Try to forgive and forget when posible.
129970
OK lets try and unravel this into its core components.\n\nA police officer [I am assuming] has told you that you cannot approach and/or speak to this person.\n\nYou however, feeling guilty over whatever it is that you have done, feel an overwhelming desire to be punished for your transgression.\n\nThis is a normal reaction for many people as they feel the psychological need for punishment as this provides a sense of "closure" and a shift in guilt.\n\nIn your case you actually want him to do something wrong as well, not just punish you, as this means that he cannot point the finger at you because he has done a horrible thing too.\n\nI know people will say..go to your brother first before coming to the temple...but that does not apply to you in this situation.  You harbour no ill will towards this person!  You cry out to God because your sin is before you.  \n\nGod always hears this cry and you need to focus on your relationship with God first.  This is the path to forgiveness for you, not the friend.  You need to understand that God forgives you.  Then, you may be able to forgive yourself.  Finally you may be able to approach this person and ask forgiveness.\n\nRemember, they may not want to forgive you, and that is their right.  Your peace and forgiveness with God is not dependant upon this persons responses to you, even though you did the wrong thing.\n\nGod may be workingnin that persons life too, and Gods timing is not always ours.  Also, some people just need lots of time to be able to forgive, and just because you may be in a hurry to receive it, does not mean you should hurry them up.\n\nThats why it starts with God for you, so that if this man cannot forgive you, you have peace with God that you did all you could to ask for it....and who knows, in time that might help this man to forgive you anyway.\n\nForgiveness is something you ask for from another because it gives THEM the opportunity to heal from the hurt you have done to them.....\n\nIt is never asked for to make YOU feel better about the pain and guilt that you feel for having caused it.\n\nIn your case, you cant approach this person anyway, so this is a perfect opportunity to seek a counsellor perhaps to give you some support with your feelings and how to deal with them.
388401
No it's not ok to want revenge. The Lord said treat others as you would want to be treated. You need to forgive that person and make sure you let them know you have forgiven them too! Good Luck
509775
yes, forgive him/her if he/she is sory of what she/he did...\n\nif God forgives us for every day we do wrong (sin), so we too...
220450
I don't think that there are any levels of forgiveness.  There is a difference between the kind of forgiveness God gives and human forgiveness.  God forgets all our sins once we ask for forgivness . . . most of us humans forgive, but don't forget (and I personally don't find that to be an awful thing all of the time . . . it saves us from letting others walk all over us).  I don't think that whether a person is a christian or not affects whether we should forgive them . . . the Lord's prayer says "forgive us our tresspasses (sins,debts) as we forgive those who tresspass against us".  An important thing about this is that God forgives us WHEN we forgive others . . . this was something I didn't really understand until a week or two ago, when I was at a retreat and was lead through a process of forgiving a number of people in my life that I had forgotten I was holding grudges against.  It's interesting that this individual in England has recognized their inability to forgive and has decided not to teach any longer.  That is a good example for the rest of us.
78633
Does it make you any better than the person who wronged you? I believe the best revenge is to succeed despite them. Banish them from your personal kingdom, and move on.
731129
No, you should treat everyone as you would like to be treated, not as they have treated you.  Can you imagine a society that is out to get everyone at every turn that would be horrible.  Show that you are a better person, by forgiving them and moving on.  Since you have lost trust with this person it is best to just leave them behind.  Why it hurts so much is because they have betrayed your trust.  They were disrespectful and wrong.  I am sure you have heard the phrase forgive and forget, forgive them, but move on.  Forgetting will take time and showing them you are a better person by not reacting the way you want but how you should will make both of you better in the future.
292982
It isn't anyone's place to tell you how you is right or wrong.\n\nI can tell you this. Hate uses up a lot of energy. \n\nI was face with a big forgiveness issue a few years back. I found for me that I first needed to define what forgiveness wasn't rather than what it was.\n\nIt is not saying it is ok what was done to me.\nIt is not saying I have to trust this person\nIt is not saying I have to let this person hurt me again.\n\nSo what did I conclude it was for me? For me it is just letting go and letting be. It freed me up to focus on going on with my life and establishing relationships with other people who would not be hurtful to me.\n\nMy two cents worth any way.\n\nI wish you the best.
497425
there should be no limit on forgivness. we are all human and screw up. does Jesus put a limit on how many times He will forgive you for your sins? no He doesn't so why should we. if the problem is big enough to where you can't trust him anymore then you probably would just be better off finding someone you can trust. there can never be unconditional love if there isn't trust. so basicly it depends on you how many times you want to forgive.