{"id":7904,"date":"2026-02-06T20:06:37","date_gmt":"2026-02-07T04:06:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/?p=7904"},"modified":"2026-02-06T20:11:28","modified_gmt":"2026-02-07T04:11:28","slug":"tgfi-volume-541-what-forgiveness-takes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/archives\/2026\/02\/06\/tgfi-volume-541-what-forgiveness-takes","title":{"rendered":"TGFI, Volume 541: What Forgiveness Takes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

<\/a>\n<\/p>

You\u2019ve heard of TGIF? This is TGFI: Things Glen Found Inter\u00adest\u00ading<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Fri\u00addays I share articles\/resources about broad cul\u00adtur\u00adal, soci\u00adetal and the\u00ado\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal issues like\u00adly to be of inter\u00adest to Chris\u00adtians in col\u00adlege. Be sure to see the expla\u00adna\u00adtion and dis\u00adclaimers at the bot\u00adtom. I wel\u00adcome your sug\u00adges\u00adtions, so if you read some\u00adthing fas\u00adci\u00adnat\u00ading please pass it my way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Things Glen Found Interesting<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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  1. For\u00adgive\u00adness Always Involves the Absorp\u00adtion of a Debt<\/a> (J. D. Greear, blog): \u201c\u2026if you get jeal\u00adous of me and start slan\u00adder\u00ading me and real\u00adly hurt my rep\u00adu\u00adta\u00adtion in the eyes of oth\u00aders, it can be hard to see where the \u2018debt\u2019 is. But it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s there. Watch this: Let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s say that after you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve maligned me, but before<\/em> I launched my coun\u00adter\u00adat\u00adtack, you came to me and said you were sor\u00adry. And I was feel\u00ading mag\u00adnan\u00adi\u00admous, so I for\u00adgave you. In that moment, what has hap\u00adpened? In for\u00adgiv\u00ading you, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m say\u00ading, \u2018I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not going to pun\u00adish you or pay you back for what you did. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not going to take vengeance on you or seek retal\u00adi\u00ada\u00adtion; I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not going to go out and ruin your rep\u00adu\u00adta\u00adtion, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not even going to stay mad at you for the hurt you caused me. I am going to absorb the con\u00adse\u00adquences of your sin<\/em>.\u2019 You can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t see the finan\u00adcial dam\u00adage, but the dam\u00adage is just as real. And some\u00adone is still pay\u00ading for it. For\u00adgive\u00adness always involves the absorp\u00adtion of a debt. The sac\u00adri\u00adfice of a lamb pic\u00adtures how God would him\u00adself absorb the cost for our sin. But catch this, that only makes sense if God him\u00adself is some\u00adhow pic\u00adtured in the lamb\u00e2\u20ac\u201dotherwise, killing a lamb in our place is ran\u00addom and cru\u00adel.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Near\u00adly 40% of Stan\u00adford under\u00adgrad\u00adu\u00adates claim they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re dis\u00adabled. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m one of them<\/a> (Elsa John\u00adson, The Times): \u201cThe gam\u00ading even extends to our meals. Stan\u00adford requires most under\u00adgrad\u00adu\u00adates liv\u00ading on cam\u00adpus to pur\u00adchase a meal plan, which costs $7,944 for the 2025\u201326 aca\u00add\u00ade\u00adm\u00adic year. But stu\u00addents can get exempt\u00aded if they claim a reli\u00adgious dietary restric\u00adtion that the col\u00adlege kitchens can\u00adnot accom\u00admo\u00addate. And so, some stu\u00addents I know claim to be devout mem\u00adbers of the Jain faith, which rejects any food that may cause harm to all liv\u00ading crea\u00adtures \u00e2\u20ac\u201d includ\u00ading small insects and root veg\u00adeta\u00adbles. The stu\u00addents I know who claim to be Jain (but aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t) spend their meal mon\u00adey at Whole Foods instead and enjoy fresh\u00adly made sal\u00adads and oth\u00ader yum\u00admy dish\u00ades, while the rest of us are stuck with col\u00adlege meals, like burg\u00aders made part\u00adly from \u2018mush\u00adroom mix\u2019.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. New Research Con\u00adfirms Jesus\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Mir\u00ada\u00adcles<\/a> (T.C. Schmidt, The Gospel Coali\u00adtion): \u201cThe impli\u00adca\u00adtions are clear: Jose\u00adphus ful\u00adly acknowl\u00adedged Jesus\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s mirac\u00adu\u00adlous deeds, as oth\u00ader ancient non-Chris\u00adtians did. And this comes from a man raised in first-cen\u00adtu\u00adry Jerusalem, a man who knew those involved in Jesus\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s tri\u00adal, a man who went on to become one of the finest his\u00adto\u00adri\u00adans the ancient world ever pro\u00adduced. He was also per\u00adfect\u00adly ready to deny the miraculous\u00e2\u20ac\u201dhe laughed at the idea of cer\u00adtain wiz\u00adards cast\u00ading spells on him when he served as a gen\u00ader\u00adal, and he unmasked false prophets and char\u00adla\u00adtans when writ\u00ading his books of history\u00e2\u20ac\u201dbut in the case of Jesus, he didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t claim his mir\u00ada\u00adcles were false, or exag\u00adger\u00ada\u00adtions, or the stuff of leg\u00adends. While Jose\u00adphus wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t sure of the source for Jesus\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s super\u00adnat\u00adur\u00adal deeds, he was sure they hap\u00adpened.\u201d\n