Sermon Illustrations

Illustrations: Forgiveness Is Strength

Christian forgiveness should not be a refusal of strength, but rather ought to manifest an alternative power; Christian love, whether of neighbors or of enemies, should be a sign not of repressed anger and hatred but of anger and hatred confronted and, eventually, overcome and transcended; it should not be an internalized guilt that further diminishes and destroys but a truthful engagement with the causes and motivations underlying the situation of brokenness.

Gregory Jones, quoted in "Reflections," Christianity Today, Vol. 45, no. 1.