Sunday word BY PROSPER TINGINI
Forgiveness is a virtue. Every one of us is wronged sometimes, just as everyone else does a wrong to someone at some point. While we are often aggrieved by the actions of others, let’s not forget that our own actions can displease other people too. We have to manage our emotions of anger, betrayal, revenge and any other host of reactions that might lead us to act in revenge. There is always an underlying reason why people commit acts of sin against others, very often backed by a justification by the perpetrator. A variety of causes can trigger sinful deeds, or acts of aggression.
Our God is a Lord of forgiveness, but even He too in the beginning would react to perpetrations of sin. Our own justice system tries and gives appropriate sentences for various guilty verdicts, with very little room for forgiveness. Retribution is an element of humanity devoid of mercy. To be able to forgive is divine.
Sometimes we sin and later regret our actions and carry upon ourselves an endless feeling of guilt, which is detrimental to our wellness. The good news is that once we are remorseful of our trespasses, the spirit of forgiveness from the Lord automatically washes away the sins. As humans made in the image of God, never should we keep a grudge against someone who has shown contrition for any of his/her bad actions. That kind of hard-heartedness as ungodly, it’s evil. Wars of attrition have been fought to decimate others in the absence of a room for dialogue. Failure to listen to reasons for misdemeanours and the propensity for revenge leads to an absence of peace and tranquillity in society. It breeds rivalries that have cost billions of human lives since mankind’s creation. Such behaviour is animalistic.
When Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit, God did not forsake them completely. When they thereafter realised that they were naked, the Lord took care of them and clothed them. Genesis 3:21 reads: And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skin and clothed them. That was God’s compassion and forgiveness at play even in the face of sin.
Anger is an emotion that can overcome us and make us lose our cool. It can cause us to react on impulse. Such reactions are common and sometimes beyond our own control. We have to set ourselves a reminder to avoid disastrous responses to anger. Even the Lord our God set for Himself a reminder not to let His anger get out of control.
Genesis has the story of God’s one-time uncontrolled anger towards the sins of mankind and His remorse towards His reaction. Genesis 6:5-8 says: The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that he had made man on earth, and it grieved him to his heart. So the Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the ground, man and beast and creeping things and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them”.
God proceeded in anger to obliterate his creations of humans and creatures of all kinds. He, however, forgave one man, Noah and family, and ultimately also saved the male and female of each species of the creatures. All others were decimated by floods that engulfed the earth. The Lord immediately-after was very sorry of His actions and said, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I ever again destroy every living creature as I have done” (Genesis 8:21). It had become clear to the Lord that mankind would be perpetual sinners, hence forgiveness was now the key to the survival of humanity.
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
So strong is the spirit of anger that God decided to put in place a sign that would always remind Himself to keep His anger in check, and replace it with the spirit of forgiveness. Genesis 9:12-16 reads: And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant which I made between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: when I set my bow (rainbow) in the cloud, it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the cloud, I will remember my covenant which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; i.e that the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. When the bow is in the clouds, I will look upon it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth”. Thus the rainbow is to this day the symbol for the Lord, not to let His anger get out of control, and to restrain Him from punishing the habitual sins of man. The sign and His spirit of forgiveness prevails to this day.
For us Christians there is one sign that should also remind us of the forgiveness of our sins. Through the death of Jesus Christ our sins were forgiven by his being mailed to the cross. The cross is the reminder to Jesus’ death, thus it is the symbol to remind us of the forgiveness of our sins. When we look at the cross, just as when God looks at the rainbow, we should also remind ourselves to keep our own anger under control and let the spirit of forgiveness take charge.
The cross is the representative Christian symbol for the forgiveness of sins, either through Christ sacrificing himself for our sins, or by us also being reminded to forgive the sins of those who trespass against us. It symbolises Christian living, although we should refrain from worshipping the cross. Worship should be directed only to God or through His son, Jesus Christ and not to the cross, as this would be a violation of the second commandment which reads; “You shall not make for yourself a graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children of the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandment.”
Be warned therefore, that the cross or any carved sculpture and engraved images portraying Jesus’ lifeless body on the cross should not be worshipped but be treated as a symbol for the forgiveness of our sins. Other than that, such signs or symbols should be viewed as souvenirs or mementos in memory of the Lord Jesus Christ. They should be there to remind and keep our anger or feelings of retribution in check. They symbolise the spirit of forgiveness, which was Christ’s mission on our planet. It was implanted in him.
To enable us to forgive others, we should have the ability to refrain from acting on our anger. A physical or mental agitation can arouse various feelings of vengefulness, resentment, bitterness, and etc. If we put in place some visible symbol to remind us of forgiveness, it may enhance our capability to forgive. For us Christians, displaying the signs of the cross or images of Christ nailed to the cross anywhere in our place of worship, homes, and workplaces etc (without worshipping these symbols) might act as reminders to forgive those who trespass against us and also those who we anger.
Let’s also appeal to our leaders, both on the social and political front, to forgive each other and let go of their grudges of all kinds and to work together for the good of our country. Let’s live as one people, one nation.
Prosper Tingini is the president of the Children of God Missionary Assembly. Registration in progress for those who wish to undertake Bible Studies or train as Ministers of Religion. Contact 0771 260 195 or email: [email protected]
