The topic above sounds easy when written in ink; practically, a few tend to follow. Why? It is because it can be difficult at times to forgive, especially when you are hurt by someone you don’t expect to hurt you. This is why the word of God comes to build us up and differentiate us from other people; in the lesson today, Bro. Eli was showing some practical life I believe we should live and be overcomers.
One of the outstanding lessons is the act of not being angry or mad when somebody has done something bad or something wrong to you. As believers we are not meant to follow the dictates of our emotions or mindset, seeing that we have the mind of Christ in us. Ideally, human nature and human instinct dictate that if somebody does something wrong to us, the response to that is to get angry and to react; Bro. Eli relates this to physics—for every action there is always an equal or opposite reaction; for example, if somebody expresses love to us, we reciprocate the love. For the opposite reaction, if someone slaps you on the face, you respond by showing love to the person—this is a Christ life.
Certainly, the teaching sounds silly, but it is what God expects from us. So, if somebody sins against you, it is an opportunity being given to you by God to forgive. Scripturally, Matthew 6:14 says—
For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:
So when someone offends you, see it as an opportunity that your heavenly father will forgive you if you forgive the person; this means it is for our benefit.
On the other hand, if we do not forgive, we are taking the possibility for the Father not to forgive us; verse 15 records—
But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Similarly, God says if we show mercy, we also obtain mercy, as seen in Matthew 5:7—
Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
Here is the reflection: how do you forgive somebody who has done evil things against you?
Sometimes we need to understand the ways of God; He allows a person to do something evil to you to learn how to forgive so that you may also be forgiven by him.
Conclusively, one of the crucial points I got in this lesson is this: forgiving is one way to love yourself. Why? Because by learning how to forgive, you are loving yourself because you will be forgiven also by God.
