FORGIVENESS AS OUR TREND IN THIS NEW REALM
By: Josephine Olakanye
Tolani and Tolulope were very close friends in their secondary school days.
But their friendship ended abruptly when a rumor was spread about Tola divulging some of Tolu’s secrets to one of their classmates.
And this led to bad blood between them to the point of their friendship bond getting severed till they graduated from secondary school.
Years later,
Tola works in a major banking firm in the country and is very comfortable in the real comfort standards.
Tola was scrolling through social media when she came across videos of a viral trend, tagged #theforgivenesstrend.
Here, participants make a short video of each-self or a textual content noting what a particular person did to offend you and how you want to make things right:
By forgiving the person or by asking the wronged person to forgive you.
The challenge was interesting as some important figures both online and offline decided to participate in it.
It generated lots of comments from majority and some people were able to reconnect with lost lovers, friends, family members and so on.
Tolu was also following the trend at her end and wished that she could participate and ask Tola to forgive her for betraying her confidence.
The last she heard of Tola from a mutual friend was that Tola is now a big madam that’s rich and comfortable, but here she is struggling to make end meets with her meagre/ mediocre job.
She evaluated the option, but she concluded that she really did badly by her, and she wouldn’t complicate things further by digging through old archives.
She’ll rather let the sleeping dogs lie.
Tola on the other end felt the tugging of the holy spirit for her to forgive, love and reconnect without being harsh on Tolu, but she didn’t pay much heed to it cause of previous scar of betrayal.
She however remembered the part of the bible that said to be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God has forgiven you’ (Eph. 4:32)
The Holy Spirit tugged on tolu’s heart too, but she felt too guilty to ask for tola’s forgiveness because she was truly at fault.
FORGIVENESS AS OUR TREND IN THIS NEW REALM
Fortunately, the Holy Spirit didn’t give up on both of them.
After a very short period of time, they reached out to each other across various social media platforms almost simultaneously.
And they asked for each other’s forgiveness.
Even the person who was wronged did ask for the other persons forgiveness and they agreed to meet physically.
They went out on a date and caught up on old times because it’s been a while and they reconciled, reconnected, and promised to constantly get in touch with each other.
Then they rounded their physical meeting up with a prayer of appreciation to the almighty for making them able to do such and to meet again in a good health condition.
Tol and tola’s story is a very brief example of what forgiveness ought to look like.
Forgetting the pain, hurt, negative feelings.
And focusing on starting afresh on a clean slate with a mindset of not repeating such error and to do better in any such relationship.
Forgiveness is an important aspect of living a life full of Christ emulation.
And forgiveness was preached and in fact emulated by Christ Jesus, because even at the point of death, Jesus said “father forgive them for they do not know what they are doing “Luke
23:34)
FORGIVENESS AS OUR TREND IN THIS NEW REALM: IMPORTANCE OF FORGIVENESS
HEALING AND EMOTIONAL WELL BEING:
Forgiveness allows us to release every pent-up emotion that can affect us and helps heal every form of trauma that might be hidden despite the scenario.
When we forgive others, we also experience the forgiveness, healing, and grace of God.
(Colossians 3:13) “Bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.”
FREEDOM FROM THE SHACKLES OF THE PAST:
Forgiveness enables Christians to let go of the past and properly move on.
When we forgive, God forgives us and remembers our sins no more, offering us a fresh start.
(Isiah 43:25) “I, even I, am he that blotted, out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins”.
If God can forgive and forget our transgressions, who are we to put ourselves through such stress again?
FORGIVENESS ENABLES US TO GROW IN LOVE &
COMPASSION:
Forgiveness itself is an act of compassion that involves grace.
Christ has already showed us grace, but forgiveness enables us to pass it unto others.
STRENGTHNING FAITH:
If observed carefully we will realize that forgiveness is related to our faith as believers.
If we forgive others, we’re already aligning ourselves with God’s teachings and this will enable us to enjoy his forgiveness in our own lives.
(Matt 6:14) “For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly father will also forgive You.”
RESTORATION OF RELATIONSHIPS:
As cited in the case of Tolu and Tola, forgiveness is important in repairing and restoring broken relationships.
It opens the door to reconciliation and fosters the spirit of understanding and compassion.
(Mark 11:25) “And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your father who is also in heaven may forgive your trespasses.”
HELPS IN LETTING GO OF RESENTMENT AND BITTERNESS:
If we persist in holding unto bitterness, rage, and anger it will only harm us.
Forgiveness frees us from the burden of carrying negative emotions and helps us cultivate kindness and compassion towards others.
In summary, practicing forgiveness will help us develop a deeper sense of inner peace, compassion, happiness, and joy.
It will also enable us to enjoy Abba’s unlimited forgiveness.
FORGIVENESS AS OUR TREND IN THIS NEW REALM
Also Read: Vindication and vengeance – Diademng (thediademng.org)
