Lewis B. Smedes Mean Quotations

Spoken forgiveness, no matter how heartfelt, works best when we do not demand the response we want. I mean that when we tell people we forgive them, we must leave them free to respond to our good news however they are inclined. If the response is not what we hoped for, we can go home and enjoy our own healing in private.

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