A Biblical Understanding of Forgiveness for Christians

Forgiveness has always been a popular subject among people, but society rarely puts it into practice. Forgiveness is essential to peaceful families, as well as to communities and societal life, even in the traditional African culture. African men hold the view that without forgiveness, it is almost impossible to live as a couple in a marriage or even as members of a family or community. The axiom that "the teeth and the tongue have to live together in the same mouth" is often used in African societies to describe this. Indeed, in such societies, there is a common assertion that "there is no offence that cannot be forgiven."

Paradoxically, among these same people, forgiving is nevertheless viewed as a sign of cowardice, and revenge is therefore both frequent and encouraged, a practice that even King David of the Bible did not seem averse to, as his final words to Solomon indicate (1 Kings 2:5-6). However, in the New Testament, Jesus fundamentally departed from this practice, instructing His disciples not to seek retribution but to do good to their enemies - to feed them, pray for them, and treat them kindly. Jesus' Sermon on the Mount contradicts the Old Testament's doctrine of vengeance, which is found in Leviticus 24:19-21 and Exodus 21:22-25. In Matthew 5:38-39, He issued a new commandment that said one should love one's adversaries and leave judgment to God. Instead of reacting negatively, Christians are called to provide their time, expertise, and material goods to those who reject them.

This new commandment of loving one's enemies through forgiveness is a particularly challenging one to follow. Carrying it out requires a great deal of demanding work, mainly because of the surprises that can arise from a person who seems nice today. However, the injunction to forgive one's offender is more for one's benefit than for that of the offender. Every day brings a new surprise. Even when you believe you are free today, things change the next day. Mr Nice, who might be a fine person today, can change tomorrow. This happens frequently in families, communities, and people's personal lives.

This affects not only the general populace but also the clergy and missionaries. The goal of the devil is to divide and conquer. If given a chance, he will use conflict as a catalyst to rule over families, neighbours, kingdoms, and the entire world. It would be smart to take Paul's statement in Ephesians 6 seriously that our opponents are evil spirits in high places rather than living, breathing people. The unseen enemy, not the husband or wife, is the real cause of most disagreements between spouses.

Often, rather than blaming the powers behind the evil we experience, we blame our brothers, sisters, families, friends, neighbours, and other living things that we can feel and touch. But if we were to heed the counsel of the apostle Paul, we would be able to resolve most conflicts in our lives.

I experienced hatred, contempt, discouragement, unfair treatment and objectification for much of my life. Still, because I realised that the attacks were being launched from the kingdom of darkness, I was able to pray for the grace to forgive the human vehicles the devil was using. I'm sharing in this book the experiences and ideas that have been beneficial to me and others on the issue of forgiveness. It is crucial to comprehend the concept of forgiveness through the eyes of Jesus because if we are to be spiritually strong despite the sufferings we encounter, we Christians must take the question of forgiveness very seriously. If we do not, we are preparing for our own destruction. There is no way to avoid forgiveness; instead, we must accept it as a bitter pill that must be taken to live and persevere until we see our heavenly Father, when all suffering will end.