My Journal |

Our lesson for today is about the Book of Philemon in the Bible. Philemon has only one chapter but this gives a big impact to every person’s life. It is about a letter of Paul to Philemon asking Philemon to reconcile with his runaway slave which is Onesimus. But the time came when Onesimus changed and became a servant of God. Paul asked Philemon to forgive Onesimus of whatever he has done him wrong without forcing him. Instead Paul makes him realize that a servant of God should know how to forgive. For forgiveness cleanses our hearts and makes us more worthy to serve God.

An unforgiving heart is a hindrance in becoming an effective servant of God. How can we serve God and tell the world of His love if we ourselves don’t know how to forgive? It is hard to forgive if you don’t fully understand what forgiveness is.

We should forgive with the love of Christ. How can we learn to forgive? First, we must come to God and pray for the person who has done us wrong. Pray that God will forgive him. Pray that God will give you a humble and a forgiving heart. The next step to remove our anger is to think more of your happy moments together with that person. The important thing here is let the love of the Lord stay in your heart.

With these things we can practise instant forgiveness. When you become angry you should resolve conflicts quickly. The apostle Paul teaches, if you become angry, do not let your anger lead you into sin and do not stay angry all day. When anger is not dealt with quickly, it can turn to resentment and, then into bitterness. Resentment and bitterness are wrong attitudes that we consider them sin. There is such thing as small or big sin. All sins are the same. Sin separates us from God.

For us to continue the race that will lead us to the right path we should be obedient enough to forgive other people and we should also know how to ask for forgivess.

“Lord God, we ask for your mercy. May you teach us how to have a forgiving heart. May we be able to forgive easily those who did us wrong . Give us the humility to accept our faults and ask for forgiveness, in Jesus , amen.”