“To love those who do not love you is not offered as a piece of pragmatic wisdom, but as a reflection of the character of God himself (v. 45), who gives a fruitful earth, through rain and sun, to all people regardless of the motives or character.”- R. T. France, The Gospel of Matthew “But […] The post Pragmatic wisdom — love enemies? appeared first on Crown of Compassion .

“Since doing justice is at its essence loving your neighbors enough to want them to be freed from the evil at work in their hearts, then it is possible to pursue both justice and forgiveness, to renounce revenge and still pursue justice for the good of all, not for your own emotional satisfaction.”- Timothy Keller […] The post Renounce revenge, pursue justice appeared first on Crown of Compassion .

“At the sight of men’s sins . . . always decide to use humble love. If you resolve to do that, once and for all, you can subdue the whole world. Loving humility is marvelously strong, the strongest of all things and there is nothing else like it.”- Fyodor Dostoevsky “If your brother or sister […] The post Loving humility — marvelously strong appeared first on Crown of Compassion .

“The cross shows that God is committed to both justice and forgiveness; there is no pitting one against the other. When Jesus died on the cross, it meant that in a single stroke justice was done on sin and the door for forgiveness opened. . . . We must pursue both together as well.”- Timothy […] The post A single stroke — Jesus’ death appeared first on Crown of Compassion .

“Silence happens on Saturday. After trouble hits you, after the agony of Friday, you call out to God. . . . On Saturday, in addition to the pain of Friday, there is the pain and the silence of the absence of God.”- John Ortberg, Who is This Man? (2012) “Surely he hath borne our griefs […] The post Silence happens on Saturday appeared first on Crown of Compassion .

“By not forgiving, I chain myself to a desire to get even, thereby losing my freedom. A forgiven person forgives. This is what we proclaim when we pray ‘and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who have trespassed against us.’ This lifelong struggle lies at the heart of the Christian life.”- Henri Nouwen, […] The post Lifelong struggle — forgiveness appeared first on Crown of Compassion .

“The heart dresses up vengeance as if it were justice: ‘It will be perfectly fair and just — I will simply hurt them just as they did me.’ But that is seldom what happens. . . . Soon the mask of supposed justice falls away and the face of revenge is revealed.”- Timothy Keller “You […] The post The mask of supposed justice appeared first on Crown of Compassion .

“If you have a God who is nothing but wrath, and if you have little understanding of what happened on the cross, you’ll be a driven person. You’ll try very hard to be moral . . . but you will always feel unworthy. It will be hard to grow into a loving person, because fear […] The post Fear cannot awaken love appeared first on Crown of Compassion .

“The concept of substitution may be said, then, to be at the heart of both sin and salvation. For the essence of sin is man substituting himself for God, while the essence of salvation is God substituting himself for man. . . . Man claims prerogatives which belong to God alone; God accepts penalties which […] The post God substituting himself for man appeared first on Crown of Compassion .