Monday, March 11, 2013

The Mandate to Forgive Man

UV 689/10,000 The Mandate to Forgive Man “If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” John 20 v 23 Jesus gave His disciples the authority or power to forgive others as well as to withhold forgiveness from others. He was Himself questioned when He told others,” Your sins are forgiven” as it was held that only God has the authority to forgive men. Jesus being part of the Trinity knew He had authority to forgive men. But, He has empowered us with the authority to forgive. It implies that we can plead in prayer for the forgiveness of all people. Love covers a multitude of sins. That is why St Paul wrote in his famous chapter describing the attributes of love: “ love does not hold a record of wrongs.” Forgiveness, it is said, is done for our own sake and not just for others. It frees us of the hurt and bitterness caused. It is also incumbent that since the Lord has forgiven us all our sins, we must necessarily extend the same grace to others. Nelson Mandela said that “ He who has been liberated from fears- his very presence will liberate others of their fear.” This is more true when spoken about sin. Once we are freed from sin and its consequences, our very presence will liberate others. When we learn to forgive- it is a sign that we have understood the meaning of being forgiven or else we are taking it for granted. Forgiveness requires us to give up the natural urge to avenge ourselves and to give up the sense of pride, ego and hurt. Forgiveness is about releasing a person of the burden of guilt of committing a particular deed. Without forgiveness, it is impossible today for even families to survive. A spouse needs to continually forgive her husband and vice versa. The same applies to siblings and children. If we do not forgive, every relationship including marriage would be so brittle and brake down. It is forgiveness that causes relationships to endure misunderstandings, mistakes, blunders, insults, betrayals and offences. Prateep V Philip Listen to this Blessong: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VquoupNiypI

No comments:

Post a Comment