LITTLE HEAVEN
LOVE AND FORGIVENESS
By Sonia Jeejo
Dearest Brothers & sisters,
Today’s talk is on love & forgiveness. On the onset let me begin the talk by saying “To Err is human, but to forgive is divine”. The essence of Christianity is this “To love your Lord with all your heart, with all your soul and all your mind”. The second most important commandment is “Love one another as I have loved you”.
Sure enough we all accept this. We show love, but mostly to people who love & accept us. Well we don’t have to be Christian to do that. Even others do the same.
The scripture says in Mathew 5:23 onwards, “If you are about to offer your gift to GOD at the alter you remember that your brother had something against you, leave the gift then in front of the altar, go at once and make peace with your brother and then come back and offer your gift to God”. Which means to say, if you have a barrier in the flow of love towards your brethren, the flow of love from God is blocked. First set things right with your brethren & then call up to the most high, then he will surely listen to our prayers.
Further in verses 43 onwards he goes on to say about our love for our enemies:
“But now I tell you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you so that YOU MAY BECOME THE SONS OF YOUR FATHER IN HEAVEN." In verse 46 he says, “ Why should God reward you if you love only the people who love you. Even tax collectors do that and if you speak only to your friends, have you done anything out of the ordinary. Even the pagans do that! You must be perfect just as your Father in heaven is perfect." God alone is perfect in His love for His children whatsoever His children do.
God in His infinite mercy & love for His children has forgiven many of our sins. God showed his love for us by sending His only son into the world so that we might have life through Him. This is what love is. It is not that we have loved God, but that He loved us and send his Son to be the means by which our sins are forgiven. If this is how God loved us then we should love one another. No one has ever seen God but if we love one another, God lives in union with us & his love is made perfect in us.
In the prayer that the Lord taught us – Our Father in Heaven – there is a clause about forgiveness which says: ‘Forgive us the wrongs we have done as we forgive the wrongs that’s others have done to us” – which means that God forgives our wrong doings PROVIDED we forgive the wrong doings of our fellow persons. We usually say this prayer without understanding the implications of these words.
What more can be a perfect example of forgiveness than our Lord on the cross saying, in Luke 23:34, “Forgive them Father, for they do not know what they are doing”
Anything we do against love is against Jesus. Then what is love ? GOD is LOVE.
In 1 Corinthians 13:4 onwards says, “ Love is patience, love is kind. It is not jealous or conceited or proud. Love is not ill mannered or selfish or irritable. Love does not keep a record of wrongs. Love is not happy with evil but happy with truth. Love never gives up and its faith, hope and patience never fails."
In conclusion, we all know how difficult it is to forgive someone who has wronged us & it might seem an impossible task. ‘To Err is human but to forgive is divine’. To achieve what is divine is humanly impossible for which we must ask for divine help – that is the Holy Spirit. It is through the Holy Spirit that we are strengthened. God sees our hearts. It is here that forgiveness should truly begin.
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