Lewis B. Smedes

Sometimes I like to list the strongest arguments I can find to support a point of view I think is wrong. When…

— Lewis B. Smedes

When we forgive evil we do not excuse it, we do not tolerate it, we do not smother it. We look the…

— Lewis B. Smedes

When we forgive someone, we do not forget the hurtful act, as if forgetting came along with the forgiveness package, the way…

— Lewis B. Smedes

When forgiveness is necessary, don't wait too long. We must begin to forgive, because without forgiving, we choke off our own joy;…

— Lewis B. Smedes

To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you.

— Lewis B. Smedes

Some people have loved ones they will not forsake, even though they are a pain in the neck.

— Lewis B. Smedes

Their pain [the injurer's pain at having injured you] and your pain create the point and counterpoint for the rhythm of reconciliation.…

— Lewis B. Smedes

God is not a doormat, nor should anyone else be a doormat.

— Lewis B. Smedes

If we say that monsters [people who do terrible evil] are beyond forgiving, we give them a power they should never have...they…

— Lewis B. Smedes

We feel guilty for what we do. We feel shame for what we are.

— Lewis B. Smedes

Promise keeping is a powerful means of grace in a time when people hardly depend on each other to remember and live…

— Lewis B. Smedes

Kindness is the power that moves us to support and heal someone who offers nothing in return.

— Lewis B. Smedes

The right to personal privacy is precious. Without it, we are all potential victims for a prying secret police.

— Lewis B. Smedes

Jesus said that we should render to the state what properly belongs to the state, and though he had taxes in mind,…

— Lewis B. Smedes

The difference between guilt and shame is very clear--in theory. We feel guilty for what we do. We feel shame for what…

— Lewis B. Smedes

Waiting is the hardest work of hope.

— Lewis B. Smedes

The first and often only person to be healed by forgiveness is the person who does the forgiveness... When we genuinely forgive,…

— Lewis B. Smedes

Common sense suggests that if no one ever judged other people, there would be no real human community.

— Lewis B. Smedes

Modern Americans suffer from a fear of judging. Passing judgment on the behavior of fellow human beings is considered an act of…

— Lewis B. Smedes

A wise judge may let mercy temper justice but may not let mercy undo it.

— Lewis B. Smedes

God does not give us salvation because we believe. Our believing is only the normal way of receiving the salvation he freely…

— Lewis B. Smedes

Forgiving is, first of all, a way of helping yourself to get free of the unfair pain somebody caused you.

— Lewis B. Smedes

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

My wife has lived with at least five different men since we were wed - and each of the five has been…

— Lewis B. Smedes

The rule is: we cannot really forgive ourselves unless we look at the failure in our past and call it by its…

— Lewis B. Smedes