In a world filled with brokenness, pain, and division, the call to love and forgive may seem impossible. Yet, as followers of Jesus Christ, we’re commanded to live differently — to love without condition and forgive without limit. The ultimate example of this is found in Jesus Himself Who not only taught these principles but also lived them – even to the point of death.
Jesus’ life was the embodiment of divine love. John 15:13 reminds us, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” Christ’s love was not reserved for the deserving; it was extended to sinners, outcasts, and even His enemies. While hanging on the cross, enduring unspeakable agony, He uttered words that would echo through eternity: “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34).
This is the model of forgiveness we’re called to follow — radical, sacrificial, and unconditional. It’s not rooted in the offender’s remorse but in the heart of the forgiver. “Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you” (Ephesians 4:32). We forgive not because it’s easy but because we’ve been forgiven first.
The beauty of love and forgiveness is often captured in the hymns of the church which have been sung by generations of believers.
“Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.”
These words remind us of the debt we owed and the love that canceled it. Jesus didn’t wait for us to make the first move. “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). If Christ could forgive us in our worst state, how can we withhold forgiveness from others?
Loving and forgiving like Christ doesn’t mean ignoring justice or pretending that pain doesn’t exist. It means choosing mercy over vengeance, grace over bitterness. It’s an act of faith, trusting God to heal what we cannot fix. “Charity suffereth long, and is kind… thinketh no evil… beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things” (1 Corinthians 13:4-7).
As we seek to walk in Christ’s footsteps, may our hearts echo the words from the hymn “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling”:
“Jesus, Thou art all compassion,
Pure, unbounded love Thou art;
Visit us with Thy salvation,
Enter every trembling heart.”
Let love and forgiveness not be mere words on our lips but the testimony of our lives. In doing so, we reflect the heart of the Savior who loved us first, forgave us completely, and calls us to do the same.
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