⁸ Meanwhile, Zacchaeus stood before the Lord and said, “I will give half my wealth to the poor, Lord, and if I have cheated people on their taxes, I will give them back four times as much!”

-Luke 19:8, NLT

A cheater who is truly repentant is focused on “making it right.”

They are engaged in doing what it takes to heal who was harmed. Their concerns are over the awful damage they have done to YOU, their victim. The last thing a truly repentant cheater will do is JUDGE your “forgiveness” of them.

Judging how well you “forgive” is the wrong focus!

In fact, a truly repentant cheater will understand that forgiving them is going to be hard as what they did was THAT BAD! They understand and are patient towards their victim.

A repentant cheater understands this place of uncomfortable distrust was created by their sinful choices. It is unjust and unkind to blame that upon their victim(s).

Instead of complaining about how their victim is doing “forgiveness,” repentant cheaters are grateful they even have an opportunity to rebuild the trust that they shattered through their sins.