True forgiveness shows grace and mercy at the same time. There is an interesting Greek word, epieikes, that means “forbearance” or “tolerance.” It comes from a root word that means the opposite of being unduly rigorous. In Hellenistic literature, Aristotle contrasted it with severely judging. The idea was: do not make a rigorous stand against your enemy even when you are clearly in the right. Graciousness is shown by what you don’t say, even if what you could say would be true. In Philippians 4:5 this word is translated “gentleness.” It comes down to our English word graciousness. It implies
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