Dr. Duke Jeyaraj
To pardon the one who has wronged us is never easy. To forgive the one who has given us a raw deal is always a tough thing to do. But Bible and Church History challenges us to do that using various ways.
- The Challenge To Forgive from our Creator
We don’t have to look beyond God when we need motivation to pardon those who have wronged us. Moses wrote this about God’s character: “forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin..” (Ex. 34:7 ESV). Prophet Micah wrote, “Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance?” (Micah 7:18). Prophet Isaiah wrote that our God “abundantly pardons” (Isa. 55:7). Since we are called to copy the holy character of our creator, we also should pardon (Lev. 11:44). Since we are called to “imitate God” (who abundantly pardons) we also need to forgive those who have wronged us (Eph. 5:1).
- The Challenge To Forgive from a Command
The call to forgive also comes from a clear direct command. Apostle Paul wrote, “Be kind and tenderhearted to one another, forgiving each other just as in Christ God forgave you” (Eph. 4:32). I just love the contemporary English rendering of Paul’s command to every believer in this regard penned by Eugene Peterson: “Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you!” (Col. 3:13, The Message). Have you responded “forgiven” to the person who whatsapped you an apology for something unkind he or she said or did to you? If not, do it now!
- The Challenge To Forgive from Characters
In the Bible we read of characters who obeyed God in this area. Joseph forgave his brothers who were mean to him. His gracious words of forgiveness to them were expressed this way: “Don’t be upset or angry with yourselves any longer because of what you did. You see God sent me here ahead of you to preserve life” (Gen. 45:5, Voice). Joseph not only pardoned his brothers who schemed to finish his life, but he also promised to “provide” for them and their children going forward (Gen. 50:21). This made him a picture of Jesus!
Esau is not presented as a good person we could safely copy in the Bible. The writer to the Hebrews bluntly wrote, “Do not be like Esau” – remember? (see Hebrews 12:16). However, he is an excellent example for forgiveness – have you taken time to observe this? Feeling that his twin brother Jacob felt bad for having cheated him, Esau forgave him. Here is one of the most memorable post-forgiveness scenes in the entire Bible: “Esau ran to meet Jacob and embraced him; he threw his arms around his neck and kissed him. And they wept!” (Gen. 33:4). And when Jacob offered to “pay back” his brother Easu for having cheated him in the past via lavish gift-giving – we can see Genesis 33:8 that way – Esau refused this payment. He said, “I already have plenty my brother. Keep what you have for yourself” (Gen. 33:9). Esau’s forgiveness of Jacob was simply out-of-the-world! In this aspect, Esau was indeed worthy of emulation (I Cor. 10:11).
David could have killed King Saul who was sorely envious of him and regularly sought to kill him. There was a time when both David and Saul happened to be in the same cave. Saul was sleeping while David was awake hiding from Saul further inside. David had a golden opportunity to finished off Saul. But David let that opportunity pass-by and called Saul the “Lord’s anointed” – someone whom he would never harm, even if he had a million chances (I Sam. 24:6). So, it was obvious that David forgave Saul for his assassination attempts. Wow! Hats off David! Forgiving others sets us on course to becoming a person after God’s own heart – the famous title the Bible gives David!
Stephen was being stoned to death he prayed this Christ-reflecting prayer: “Lord do not hold his sin against them” (Acts 7:60). Another example!
If the Early Church had not forgiven Saul (Paul) of his sin of persecuting the Early Church, he would not have had a ministry platform following his dramatic salvation experience. God used the trait of forgiveness to encourage and prepare one of the main Spirit-Inspired authors of the Bible, Apostle Paul. (Your act of forgiveness can launch, world-impacting ministries – yes, that is possible!) And guess what, Paul extended the same forgiveness to ministry-team deserter Mark (see Acts 15:38) down the line. The line he penned before his execution years later show that Paul forgave Mark for that desertion – “Get Mark and bring him with you, because He is helpful to me in my ministry!” (2 Tim. 4:11). Acts of forgiveness have a domino effect!
- The Challenge to Forgive from Chronicles
If one reads the Chronicles of the Church carefully, you would meet in those pages, people who forgave. Steve Saint, the son of Nate Saint who was martyred along with Jim Elliot (on January 8, 1956), forgave those who drove spears into his missionary dad’s body. Steve went to live among the very tribes – the Huaoroni people in the thick jungles of Ecuador – that killed his father who tried to preach the Gospel to them. This utterly remarkable story of forgiveness is found in the book, End of the Spear. Missionary Gladys Staines forgave the killers of her dear missionary husband and little sons – we Indians knows this story pretty well. Gayle Haggard forgave her mega-church pastor husband who admitted to inappropriate sexual relationships with a young man and went onto narrate her moving story of forgiveness in the book, Why I Stayed: Choices I Made in My Darkest Hour. Entries in this file of forgivers are few, precious few. But these few inspire us to forgive. These few move us to pardon.
Forgive the spouse who truly repented of adultery. Let go of the one who betrayed you. Pardon the one who spread rumors about you. Excuse the one whose partiality nearly ruined your career.
(Rev. Dr. Duke Jeyaraj, the author of this piece, is the founder of Grabbing the Google Generation from Gehenna. Google ‘Duke Jeyaraj’ to know more. This article was originally written for Aim Magazine of EFI. WhatsApp us at 918886040605 to know more about our ministry.
BLESSED BY THIS ARTICLE? WANT TO SEND AN OFFERING TO G4 MISSION, DUKE’S MINISTRY?
Should you desire to do so, we welcome you to donate to Grabbing the Google Generation from Gehenna Mission, the G4 Mission, the founded-by-an-Indian and supported-by-Indians, ministry founded by Duke Jeyaraj, using the following the Razorpay link (UPI QR code/NEFT link): https://razorpay.me/@g4mission).
Leave a Reply