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Lewis B. Smedes Biography

Lewis Benedictus Smedes (August 20, 1921 — December 19, 2002) was a renowned Christian author, ethicist, and theologian in the Reformed tradition. He was a professor of theology and ethics for twenty-five years at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California. His 15 books, including the popular Forgive and Forget: Healing the Hurts We Don't Deserve, covered some important issues including sexuality and forgiveness.

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Lewis B. Smedes Quotes

To miss out on joy is to miss out on the reason for your existence.

Existence, Happiness, Joy, Miss, Missing, Reason

The only way to heal the pain which will not heal itself is to forgive the person who hurt you. Forgiveness heals the memory's vision. . . . You set a prisoner free, but you discover the real prisoner was yourself.

Discover, Hurt, Memories, Pain, Set, Way

Gandhi was right: if we all live by 'an eye for an eye' the whole world will be blind. The only way out is forgiveness.

Eye, Forgiveness, Gandhi, Live, World

The God who has the whole world in his hands has grace for the whole world in his heart.

God, Grace, Hands, Heart, World

Forgiving does not erase the bitter past. A healed memory is not a deleted memory. Instead, forgiving what we cannot forget creates a new way to remember. We change the memory of our past into a hope for our future.

Broken Heart, Erase, Forgiveness, Heartbroken, Hope, Remember

. . . Forgiving is not having to understand. Understanding may come later, in fragments, an insight here and a glimpse there, after forgiving.

Come, Forgiveness, Forgiving, Understanding

Forgiving is tough. Excusing is easy. What a mistake it is to confuse forgiving with being mushy, soft, gutless, and oh, so understanding. Before we forgive, we stiffen our spine and we hold a person accountable. And only then, in tough-minded judgment, can we do the outrageously impossible thing: we can forgive.

Forgive, Gutless, Impossible Things, Mistake, Tough, Understanding

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, and getting and giving again.

Dance, Dancing, Giving, Heart, Nudges

The problem with revenge is that it never evens the score. It ties both the injured and the injurer to an escalator of pain. Both are stuck on the escalator as long as parity is demanded, and the escalator never stops.

Pain, Parity, Revenge, Stops, Ties

Forgiveness is the key that can unshackle us from a past that will not rest in the grave of things over and done with. As long as our minds are captive to the memory of having been wronged, they are not free to wish for reconciliation with the one who wronged us.

Grave, Keys, Memories, Past, Rest, Unshackle

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

Kindness, Moving, Offers, Power, Support

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

Forgiveness, Judge, Justice, Let, Wise

The difference between guilt and shame is very clear--in theory. We feel guilty for what we do. We feel shame for what we are. A person feels guilt because he did something wrong. A person feels shame because he is something wrong. We may feel guilty because we lied to our mother. We may feel shame because we are not the person our mother wanted us to be.

Differences, Lied, Lying, Mother, Person, Shame

The moment of grace comes to us in the dynamics of any situation we walk into. It is an opportunity that God sews into the fabric of a routine situation. It is a chance to do something creative, something helpful, something healing, something that makes one unmarked spot in the world better off for our having been there. We catch it if we are people of discernment.

Catch, Healing, Opportunity, People, Unmarked

Forgiveness is God's invention for coming to terms with a world in which people are unfair to each other and hurt each other deeply. He began by forgiving us. And He invites us all to forgive each other.

Forgiveness, Hurt, People, Terms, World

Not even God can make something fair out of what is intrinsically unfair. Only one thing can be done. Something must break through the crust of unfairness and create a chance for a new fairness. Only forgiveness can make the breakthrough.

Break, Break Through, Chance, Done, Fair, Forgiveness

How many times should you forgive your household bruiser? You should not even think about forgiving him. Not yet. Not as long as he has his foot on your neck. Your problem at this point is not forgiving. Your problem is how to get out of his reach. Once you get away from him, you can think about forgiving him.

Feet, Foot, Forgiveness, Problem, Reach, Thinking

You can forgive someone almost anything. But you cannot tolerate everything. . . We don't have to tolerate what people do just because we forgive them for doing it. Forgiving heals us personally. To tolerate everything only hurts us all in the long run.

Forgive, Forgiveness, Hurt, Long, People, Running

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

Discover, Free, Happiness, Inspirational, Inspiring, Prisoner

Any moment that opens us up to the reality that life is good is a parable of the supreme end for which we were made.

Good, Gratitude, Life Is Good, Opens, Parable, Reality

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