MERCY AND FORGIVENESS

David Kinneman of the Barna Group (a Christian research organization) wrote,
“Last year, my friend Jack Alexander of The Reimagine Group asked us to conduct a major study on mercy and forgiveness in our society—and within the Christian community.

What we found was sobering. The data revealed the Church is struggling to understand and embody mercy today. Consider these findings:

One-quarter of practicing Christians says there is a
person who they cannot forgive.

Almost half of practicing Christians say mercy doesn’t influence their thoughts or actions or they haven’t thought about whether it does.

One in five practicing Christians reports struggling to receive forgiveness for something they have personally done.

Christians grapple with whether certain people deserve compassion or forgiveness, and they are not all that different from non-Christians when it comes to embodying merciful attitudes and actions.

Our hearts were broken and moved to turn this research into something more than a data report.”

“For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” Jesus