More forgiving than God

[fbhjr]

At lunch today my wife and I were talking about some folks that we really
don’t like too much.
One of the things we both agreed really bothered us was that these people
showed no remorse at all for doing things that hurt us.
The folks we were specifically talking about are fairly small timers in
this department for me.  There are folks who have harmed my vastly more
than they have.  But, the principal is the same.

Should we forgive people who are not at all sorry they have hurt us?

Biblically it is fairly clear.  Repent of your sins, you will be forgiven.
If someone wrongs you and then repents, you forgive them.  Even if they do
it again, as long as they repent again, forgive them.  Perhaps you could
question the earlier repenting if it keeps going on, but if the last one is
true, you forgive them.
So, God appears to require people to repent.

I have been told a fair number of times in my life that I shouldn’t have
the same requirement.  That if people come through my life and damage it, I
should just forgive them and let it go.  Even in one case for a person who
not only showed no sign of repentance for it, but was fairly public about
how they thought I deserved it.
With those folks, I have trouble forgiving.

I am not in any way say I’m seeking revenge, or even wishing bad things on
them.
I just want them to go away.
If they’re not sorry, the let them go on their way and not come back.

Maybe there are folks out there who can just “let it go” and be total
friends with people who have hurt them and not shown any remorse for it.
The counselor my wife and I used to see certainly seemed to think it was a
goal.  His shouting in my face it was what I was supposed to be doing is
one of the reasons I refused to go back to him any more.

It is also a different thing if they don’t know they’ve hurt you.  In that
case, if you don’t let them know, then you can’t expect them to be sorry.
But, for people who know they’ve hurt you and are not sorry?
No I’m not up for that.  Maybe it is a failing in me, maybe not.

But, if God needs people to repent for what they did,  I think it is unfair
to expect better than that from me.