If we can exit a relationship, pressure to reconcile lessens; if we must live with those who have wronged us, we are pushed to reconcile.
Miroslav VolfRead
Forgiveness flounders because I exclude the enemy from the community of humans and myself from the community of sinners.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Forgiveness is hindered when we view others as enemies rather than as fellow humans sharing the same flaws.
This quote by Miroslav Volf highlights the importance of recognizing our shared humanity in the process of forgiveness. When we treat those who hurt us as outsiders, and not just as flawed individuals like ourselves, it becomes difficult to embrace the act of forgiveness, as we create a divide that prevents understanding and empathy from flourishing.
Themes
ForgivenessHumanityUnderstandingEmpathyRelationships
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about conflict resolution, one might use this quote to emphasize the need for forgiveness.
More from Miroslav Volf
All quotes βLove properly understood is Godβthe font of all creation and the ultimate goal of all desires; God properly understood is love.
Miroslav VolfRead
If no one remembers a misdeed or names it publically, it remains invisible. To the observer, its victim is not a victim and its perpetrator is not a perpetrator; both are misperceived because the suffering of the one and the violence of the other go unseen. A double injustice occurs-the first when the original deed is done and the second when it disappears.
Miroslav VolfRead
There is no space in which worship should not take place, no time when it should not occur, and no activity through which it should not happen.
Miroslav VolfRead
To affirm that God is God is to want to live in a particular way.
Miroslav VolfRead
Some of the worst violence in the world today between estranged religious and ethnic groups happens not on the battlefields. It happens smack in the middle of living rooms and between people who share a lot, who have a lot in common.
Miroslav VolfRead
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