Our sense of fairness tells us that people should pay for the wrong they do. — Lewis B. Smedes Copy Share Image
A wise judge may let mercy temper justice but may not let mercy undo it. — Lewis B. Smedes Copy Share Image
Restorative justice is not a replacement of retributive justice, but a complement. It seeks the rehabilitation of the wrongdoer and the repair… — Lewis B. Smedes Copy Share Image
At the cross, God was punishing Jesus for the sins of the world. God's justice required a penalty from sinners, and in… — Lewis B. Smedes Copy Share Image
Retributive justice did not arise from any Christian principle; almost every pre-Christian society dealt with wrongdoers by causing them pain. — Lewis B. Smedes Copy Share Image
The problem with revenge is that it never gets what it wants; it never evens the score. Fairness never comes. The chain… — Lewis B. Smedes Copy Share Image
When you give up vengeance, make sure you are not giving up on justice. The line between the two is faint, unsteady,… — Lewis B. Smedes Copy Share Image
Not even God can make something fair out of what is intrinsically unfair. Only one thing can be done. Something must break… — Lewis B. Smedes Copy Share Image
Nothing is more private than a woman's body; it is her physical, emotional, and moral citadel. She cannot be free at all if she… — Lewis B. Smedes Copy Share Image
...Forgiving is not having to understand. Understanding may come later, in fragments, an insight here and a glimpse there, after forgiving. — Lewis B. Smedes Copy Share Image
The God who has the whole world in his hands has grace for the whole world in his heart. — Lewis B. Smedes Copy Share Image
Nobody sees reality whole; we all need others to show us the parts of it that they see better than we do. Nobody sees… — Lewis B. Smedes Copy Share Image
I have discovered that most people who tell me that they cannot forgive a person who wronged them are handicapped by a mistaken understanding… — Lewis B. Smedes Copy Share Image
Spoken forgiveness, no matter how heartfelt, works best when we do not demand the response we want. I mean that when we tell people… — Lewis B. Smedes Copy Share Image
Forgiving does not erase the bitter past. A healed memory is not a deleted memory. Instead, forgiving what we cannot forget creates a new… — Lewis B. Smedes Copy Share Image
We feel properly embarrassed when we are caught doing something that makes us look inept, knuckleheaded, or inappropriate. Maybe the difference is this: we… — Lewis B. Smedes Copy Share Image
Forgiving does not erase the bitter past. A healed memory is not a deleted memory. — Lewis B. Smedes Copy Share Image
When I feel the joy of receiving a gift my heart nudges me to join creation's ballet, the airy dance of giving and receiving,… — Lewis B. Smedes Copy Share Image
Our sense of fairness tells us that people should pay for the wrong they do. — Lewis B. Smedes Copy Share Image
Gratitude is the best feeling I would ever have, the ultimate joy of living. — Lewis B. Smedes Copy Share Image
