Superior Essay Writers | Military mental health issues

So lets define the difference between apology, forgiveness and reconciliation. The following definition is from the Webster Dictionary. Apology is a formal justification, defense, excuse; an admission of error accompanied by an expression of regret. It implies an attempt to avoid or remove blame or censure. Steve Cornell posted on the web a really great insight into the difference between forgiveness and reconciliation. Here he summarizes a key distinction: “It’s possible to forgive someone without offering immediate reconciliation. It’s possible for forgiveness to occur in the context of one’s relationship with God apart from contact with his/her offender. But reconciliation is focused on restoring broken relationships. And where trust is deeply broken, restoration is a process-sometimes, a lengthy one”. So why the importance of distinguishing the difference? Steve continues to explain why recognizing the difference is important: “The process of reconciliation depends on the attitude of the offender, the depth of the betrayal, and the pattern of offense. When an offended party works toward reconciliation, the first and most important step is the confirmation of genuine repentance on the part of the offender (Luke 17:3).” So another word that can be used for reconciliation is ‘Transformation’. So when we sin we separate ourselves from God’s love or put a barrier between God and ourselves. We have deliberately, by our own free will, performed an act of disobedience against God. We can apologize to God, but it does not hold the person accountable to change or transformation of oneself. But if we ask for forgiveness resulting in reconciliation, we then are asked by God for a commitment to change in which a transformation takes place of ones lifestyle. The sacrament of reconciliation can also be used as a sacrament of healing. A healing of not only our spiritual self but also our emotional and psychological being. Sin leaves ugly scars on a person. These scars can be emotional and psychological which can have physical effects. A person can go to a physician and be healed from the physical aspect but if the scars go deeper into the spiritual being of a person then one is not completely healed. A good example are women who have had an abortion. No term can adequately express the heartbreak that abortion causes, but for the purposes of identification we will call it Post-Abortion Trauma. Common feelings associated with Post-Abortion Trauma include guilt, grief, anger and regret. These feelings frequently manifest themselves through anti-social, self-destructive, and other abnormal behaviors. Many who suffer from Post-Abortion Trauma experience flashbacks, nightmares, and varying degrees of depression. The woman who holds a Christian worldview is very likely to begin, at some point after her abortion, to feel like a “second-class citizen” in God’s economy, even though she may know this to be incompatible with Scripture. She usually will either turn away from the church completely or try to “prove herself” by being good long enough until God will finally forgive her. Many post-abortive women, as we have already described, are secretly convinced that their transgressions are literally in a class by themselves, beyond the reach of God’s forgiveness. The more important task, then is to accept on an emotional level what they may already know on an intellectual level: that God’s forgiveness is already available, and that they must decide to reach out and grasp it firmly. There are three important aspects to this “firm grasp” on forgiveness: (1) knowing Who ultimately has paid the debt, (2) allowing intimacy with God to be restored and (3) understanding the difference between punishment and consequences. The Bible clearly teaches that God has made provision for the forgiveness of wrongdoing. But the post-abortive woman often has a very difficult time believing that forgiveness is available for her selfish and catastrophic choice. Thus, in apparent contradiction to (or ignorance of) her own theology, she cannot accept God’s forgiveness. Instead, she continues to live in a compartmentalized state in which her head knowledge and her heart knowledge do not match. Like the person desc>

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