A Grace Disguised by Jerry Sittser
Week 10: Chapter 9 — The Gracefulness of Forgiveness
Read Chapter 9 of A Grace Disguised.
Previewing Week 10 of A Grace Disguised
Read 3 of 8 discussion questions below. Unlock the complete 14-week guide when you’re ready.
Sittser arrives at one of the most difficult and necessary chapters in the book — the question of forgiveness — and refuses to make it simple or cheap.
Discussion Questions
8 questions1.Sittser addresses the question of forgiving the drunk driver who killed his family. How does he approach this subject? Does he rush to forgiveness, or does he take the question seriously and with appropriate weight?
2.He makes a distinction between forgiveness and forgetting, or between forgiveness and excusing the offense. What is the difference? Why is it important to understand forgiveness as something other than minimizing the wrong?
3.Sittser reflects on how unforgiveness functions — what it does to the person who holds it over time. Why does he suggest that forgiveness is, in part, an act of self-liberation? Does that framing help you, or does it seem insufficient to the gravity of genuine injury?
a.Is there someone in your life you have not yet forgiven? Without sharing details, what has that unforgiveness cost you?
b.What would need to be true — about God, about justice, about the future — for forgiveness to feel possible?