Search Results: forgiving someone

Me (13) and my friend (12) met up with this “14” year boy on Monday who we were friends with on MovieStarPlanet for months. He added me on Snapchat because we realised we lived in the same town so we decided to meet up in the park but we had an another friend watching incase it was an actually a weirdo.

When we met he looked older so I asked him and told us he was actually 19 instead of 14 and his selfies were from 2019 and 2020. He was everything he said he was except his age. He was really nice and we played in the park and he said he’s like to meet up again.

Even though he was the real him I am annoyed about him pretending to be 14 and he’s actually 19 and I think 14 and 19 is a big difference. He wants to go to the cinema on Monday next week and watch Despicable Me 4 (I’ve already seen it but yeah) but I can’t have anyone finding out we’ve met someone off the internet because our parents would be fuming.

Should I forgive him for lying about his age or what should I do?

One thing about a more secular society is people are more likely to face shame as societal punishment vs. actual guilt.

Shame is an external force. Sometimes it is well justified for people who really do wrong. Other times the “shame” is socially constructed and evil on its own. The Maoist struggle sessions are a great example of this. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Struggle_session

Guilt is internal. It’s actually a much more powerful psychological motivator to make right or wrong decisions. Upbringing, communities and religious influences can directly impact guilt.

But some people are sociopaths/psychopaths and don’t feel any guilt. Hence they only worry about their reputation being harmed vs. whether or not they actually harmed someone.

Anyway I’m noticing this bizarre trend in modern society where we have become more “tolerant” of certain deviations but far less forgiving others. Less forgiveness too. Ironically I think this is driving some people to actually get worse on actions that harm others and themselves.

It seems that more than ever, the commands of Jesus are seen as signs of weakness: loving your enemies, forgiving those who trespass against you, blessing those who curse you, doing good to those who hate you, and praying for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience are all signs of weakness in today's society.

Society praises politicians, athletes, and entertainers who lash out and insult those who they think disrespected them. Bragging is seen as a sign of strength. If someone wrongs you, you're supposed to lash out and shame them, not forgive them. Twitter feuds, political feuds, bragging etc are all accepted as normal today.

Is being a good Christian a sign of weakness/wussiness?