“So if you consider me your partner, welcome him as you would welcome me. If he has wronged you in any way or owes you anything, charge it to me.” Philemon 17-18
Forgiveness. All Christians have received forgiveness from God, so we should forgive others as well. That is the reason Paul wrote to Philemon who was a believer from the church at Colosse. Philemon owned a slave named Onesimus, who had fled from his master. Paul met with Onesimus after he had fled, and Onesimus became a believer in Christ. Paul sent him back to his owner asking Philemon to forgive Onesimus and treat him like a brother in Christ.
We all have situations just as Philemon had. We all know someone who we disagree with or maybe even dislike as a person. One of the greatest duties you and I have is to forgive those around us. We must realize that we are not the judge, nor the jury and we have no rights to act as though we are. It is our responsibility to forgive and not to judge. We should welcome, with open arms, those who have wronged us by using the tool of forgiveness given to us by God, and then turn our adversaries over to the Lord. The Lord has made it perfectly clear to us, just as Paul did to Philemon, that if others have wronged us in any way, we should give that wrong to the Lord and not try to take it upon ourselves to solve or judge right from wrong. We do not know the future. We don’t know what will happen with that person as they continue in life. It should be our desire that they accept Jesus as Lord and Savior. Only God knows their future and what life holds for them. Only God knows what decisions they may or may not make. We are all sinners but by the grace of God we have all been forgiven. Our judge is our Lord and not those around us. And the judge of those around us is the Lord and not you and me. PRAISE THE LORD IN ALL THINGS!
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