by Brandon Rosenburg

Created on: January 04, 2008

Deceit is a tricky subject to define, especially when it comes to forgiveness. Because we are asking about forgiveness we can ignore the deception that causes no harm, such as parents leading their young children to believe in fictional characters such as Santa Claus and the easter bunny. So if the deception causes harm to an individual it was either a mistake or intentional to directly hurt a person. Depending on which of these two situations exist, forgiveness may or may not be appropriate.

Ultimately it is up to the victim of a certain deception as to whether or not he or she decides to forgive that person who has wronged them. The main thing to consider is the intention of the deceiver when they began the lies. A concealment of details to protect a loved one from a difficult situation would be more understandable and easier to find forgiveness than something as serious as cheating on a spouse. Another thing to consider when determining if forgiveness is warranted is how the person feels about what they have done. If a person is honestly sorry for what they did and you can believe that they will never do it again, then it seems easy to forgive that person if you care about them. On the other hand, even a small deception can be difficult to forgive if the person seems to have no remorse for their deceit and will likely repeat their offenses.

Many people deceive loved ones on a daily basis. The husband of the slightly overweight husband who boosts the confidence of the woman he loves. The mother of the child who praises them no matter how bad they may be at a certain task or skill. The child who pretends to enjoy the dish they hate at a thanksgiving celebration. These are all examples of a simple deception that really can make a person feel better than if they knew the truth. As long as they do not find out they have been lied to they will feel fine. The only damage that can be done is if they find out a person they loved was willing to lie to their face. However, situations like this should be fairly easy to forgive as they were never intended to cause harm to the victims, in fact they were told for the exact opposite purpose. If you truly believe, like in situations like those above, that a person never wished you any harm, and that they are truly sorry for the harm that they did cause, then it should be possible for you to find a way to forgive.

At the other end of the spectrum are the people who tell fictional stories people, even those that they seem

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