QUICK Qs: What's easier? Forgiving Enemies or Forgiving Friends?

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to the Boundless Bible.
My name is David Shapiro, hey,I'm Javi Marquez and I'm Jason
Holloway.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
Welcome to Quick Questions with David.
It is Monday, we're excited forsome questions.
And what do you got for ustoday, david?
Here we go.

Speaker 1 (00:23):
What's harder for you loving your enemies or
forgiving your friends?
Man, what a question.

Speaker 3 (00:30):
That is good.

Speaker 2 (00:32):
I'm going to pull you first.

Speaker 1 (00:33):
Okay, that's fine.
For me, I think loving myenemies is going to be easier
only because if you have aproblem with somebody, if you're
not a fan of somebody, um, forme loving them is kind of I go,
all right, I'm called to thisand I can do it, and you just
kind of grunt through it and I'mokay with that.

(00:55):
Um, but there's somethingemotional that happens when you
have a friend and if you'reforgiving them, it means they
did something that right needsforgiving.
Um, and being betrayed by afriend is just to me, you know,
it's funny because readingshakespeare when I was younger,
et tu brute, is like yeah, oneof those lines exactly in my
brain.
I'm going I can't get it howwould you, how do I react to

(01:20):
somebody who I tore down my wallfor?
And, yeah, you know you, youtook advantage of that.
Yeah, um, so I think that, yes,forgiving a friend, not that I
can't do it, but, man, that's alot harder for me than yeah yeah
, what about you, hubby?

Speaker 3 (01:34):
um, when I first see that question, the first thing I
think about is forgiving myfriends um, I've done it many
times, so I think it's morefamiliar it's more familiar.
I think forgiving my friends iseasier for me just because there
is a love there that happens,that I have for people, and not
only that.

(01:54):
I feel like we're all humansand sometimes I take a step back
, I try to put myself in theirshoes and go.
You know what?
I probably would have done thesame thing, or maybe I have done
something like that to them orsomeone else.
So I think it's easier for meto forgive my, my, my friends
and be able to, you know, prayfor them, pray for myself, and
just kind of really deal withthe situation, you know,

(02:17):
righteously, in a good way, um,and I think that's giving me
hope and peace yeah, you knowit's funny, I don't.

Speaker 2 (02:24):
I hate to not answer the question, but I don't think
I can answer the question onlybecause I I'm in your boat, I
see everybody as human and Iknow how many things I've
screwed up in my life andoftentimes the screw up was with
good intention.

Speaker 3 (02:40):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (02:41):
And I know the screw up was with.
You know it may have botheredsomebody, but it came with like
such good intention, desire tohelp them or to do.
And so I tend to see people,all people, enemy, friend or
otherwise, as so intensely humanthat I'm like.
You know they did it for areason.
They didn't.
They didn't do it because theywere trying to hurt.

(03:01):
They did it because they'rehurt.
They did it because they'rebroken in their own ways.

Speaker 1 (03:05):
Like you know what I mean, like we all, we all what.

Speaker 2 (03:06):
I mean, like we all, we all.
I mean it's funny, we all haveour crosses right.
So what's what's easy for oneis hard for another.
And this is not somethingthat's hard for me only because,
like I've, I've just been thevictim of people like blaming me
for things so much in my lifeand I'm like, wait a second,

(03:28):
that was unfounded.
Um, and so I.
I just I tend, friend, theydeserve that same respect and
benefit of the doubt of, youknow, second chances.

Speaker 3 (03:36):
Yeah, second chances is big.

Speaker 2 (03:38):
I think that's what it is, even if it's seven times
70, right.

Speaker 1 (03:41):
If you're a friend and you do something wrong, I'm
coming after you.
Oh man, yeah.

Speaker 2 (03:44):
I mean, like I said, I totally, I totally get it, I
totally get it, and I see howpeople I know a lot of people
who are very, verygrudge-holding people and
particularly because of thepeople that you care about, that
you're vulnerable enough andthey hurt you.
This is just one of thoserandom things I don't suffer
with.
That's great, but I suffer withplenty of other things.
Don't worry, what's?

Speaker 3 (04:02):
cool is maybe actually connecting with an
enemy, yeah, and enemy, yeah,and going.
Man, you're awesome, likeyou're good.
We should have been friends along time ago, like I've.
You know, I resented you.
I didn't want, I want to stayaway from you, but, like,
getting to know you has been,you know, a blessing.
I don't want to make this intoa sorry, I want to.

Speaker 2 (04:20):
I don't want to turn this into a long questions, but
there's something I watched onetime.
There was this ted talk wherethis person said they try and
have coffee with people who sendthem hate mail and I thought it
was really fascinating becausethe idea was, like anybody who
doesn't agree with you, anybodywho thinks that you're, you know
, think you're bad, or they, youknow, sending you hate mail to
meet with them, you get tounderstand why, you get to
understand where they're comingfrom.
And again, it's one of thosethings that just like clicked in

(04:42):
my brain that, like one of thethings they said is that when
you learn about people and whythey're acting these ways is
because they're hurt in thefirst place.
Right, and we all want to beforgiven of our sins.
We all want to be realized thatwe're not hurting you on
purpose.
We're hurting you because ofthe reaction that we learned,
probably a self-defense, and Ijust thought that was a really
fascinating thing yeah, eitherthey're hurt or you are doing

(05:04):
something wrong.
Yeah, or you don't even realizeyou're doing it.
That's fair and that shines.

Speaker 3 (05:07):
You know that's, oh wow, you know, my friend
probably never told me, but you,that's the enemy.
They'll have no relationshipwith me.

Speaker 2 (05:14):
You have no problem telling me.

Speaker 3 (05:14):
You're able to see those things and tell me and wow
, I resented you for that, butor they don't like you for that.
You're my enemy in a sense.

Speaker 2 (05:27):
So you getting a chance to sit down and really
the beauty of Christianity,right, like, like, how many
other philosophies on this earthtell you to?
Like, you know, turn the othercheek.
Yeah, how many otherphilosophies on the earth tell
you to?

Speaker 3 (05:38):
forgive your enemies Right.

Speaker 2 (05:40):
None of them do and I love I think I kind of learned
it outside the faith, but it'sso much more strong and it's so
much more grounded with thefaith and I can put the terms of
sinner on it and I can put theterms of grace and I can put the
terms of mercy on it and itmeans so much more.
So thank you, guys.
Thanks for coming to the firstever long questions.

(06:00):
That was a long one.
We appreciate your time, asalways.
We hope you have a good weekand we'll talk to you again soon
.
Thanks, a lot Later.