Forgiveness but consequences

 When it comes to forgiveness, I think it is best to deal with the offense as soon as possible. We should be forgiving type people.

Probably what's difficult is the nature of the offense and the consequences attached to it. When it comes to forgiveness, what consequences are we responsible to not hold the offender for?

It seems people can say they forgive someone, and yet they exercise consequences on the offender. That's where it gets difficult. You can say you forgive someone, but the relationship is not the same, because you don't trust them or are more cautious around them.

It may take a wise person to sort out what is being forgiven and what consequences remain from the offense.

There is a conditional aspect of forgiveness with God, for until we acknowledged our sin to God, fellowship can't continue as before. That seems true in human relationships, because one can choose to continue to be friendly with someone who offended them, but the failure of the offender to acknowledge what they did will affect the relationship.

I had someone tell me that another person would not even acknowledge something offensive they said to a third party. The offended person was very upset, and told me they would still be the offender's friend, but couldn't trust him around the third party, and so would avoid inviting him to events involving the third party. It's an unfortunate situation. So the forgiveness is kind of limited because of the consequences are ongoing.