Table of Contents
Differing opinions
How many times are we to forgive those who do evil to us?
Some Christians are so hard that they do not want to forgive at all, not even once, to those who have transgressed toward them. They cannot forget the act that someone has done to them and they are ready to take revenge at once, if a suitable occasion is found. Here are examples of such an attitude: Genesis 27:41; Ester 3:8-14; Mark 6:19-28; Luke 9:54.
Other Christians say: “I forgive only once, but if my relatives are affected once more, I will not forgive. Reader, do you consider such an attitude to be right on the part of these Christians?
The counsel of Jesus
The apostle Peter asked Christ:
“Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.” Matt. 18:21-22.
By these words, Jesus teaches us to have such a forgiving spirit that we would not even count how many times we have forgiven. When some people get angry at each other and they do not want to talk to one another and retain feelings of retaliation and bitterness, they break the commandment of Jesus: Matthew 5:22; 1 John 3:15; 1 John 4:20-21.
Whenever we utter the Lord’s prayer, “Our Father Who Art in Heaven”, we pray to God to forgive us of our transgressions as we forgive those who trespass against us. We have to think about the words we utter when we pray. Just as Jesus tells us:
“And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.” Mark 11:25, 26.
“…. forgive, and ye shall be forgiven…” Luke 6:37.
Visible Christianity
A Christian captain of a steamship once asked a head of a native tribe who was once pagan but he became Christian, what had made him a Christian. “Was it a book or a sermon that caused you to become a Christian?” “No,” he said, “it was neither a book nor a sermon. Three men became the reason for my conversion.” And he went on, explaining:
“One was a thief, the other was a drunkard and the other one was in the habit of terribly beating his wives. But now the thief is no longer a thief, the drunkard is no longer a drunkard and the third one who used to beat his wives does not do so anymore. These people have become decent men and they give an example for others to follow. Each one of those three men, when he came in contact with the Gospel, received something in his heart that caused him to become a totally different man. This is what I saw and I decided to receive this mysterious force in my heart too.”
Jesus says: “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” Matt. 5:16. He does not say “that they may hear your good words”. Christianity is to be seen in us – not that we would see it but that others would see it in our lives.
The main cause of suffering and how it can be relieved
We are admonished: “Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.” Phil. 2:4.
Love of self and the desire to obtain personal benefit against which the apostle Paul speaks here are widespread among men. Nowadays the biggest cause of suffering in the world is the lack of love and mercy. Acts of benevolence and kindness almost go unnoticed, while many people center their lives on gratifying their own ambitious desires. Such people look coldly upon those who can hardly make two ends meet and are daily striving to survive.
But when a Christian sees hunger, need, and misery, this must touch his heart. If men would feel in their hearts compassion to the poor and hungry, much would be accomplished, because the hardest obstacle to the accomplishment of a certain deed is human will.
We must always keep in mind that we too can fall into a sad situation, and then we will come to feel that if we have been merciful, then mercy would be given to us as well. Paul continued his admonition by pointing to the matchless self-sacrifice of the Savior.
“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” Phil. 2:5-8.
The day of reckoning
Let us always remember that the event that was described in Matthew 25 will one day become a reality.
“Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me…
‘Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.” Matt. 25:31-46