Article June 20, 1994 ISSUE

He chose to forgive

Linda Hitt Shaver

Does it surprise us to learn that Christ Jesus neither scorned nor scolded a woman widely considered to be an adulteress—a woman who showed her humble willingness to reform? Are we surprised that he forgave her? We shouldn't be. (See Luke 7:36–50.) Our Master, who taught the moral law that prohibits adultery, also taught—and lived—the law of divine Love. This includes forgiveness. "Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors" is part of the prayer he has given us (Matt. 6:12).

"Where the motive to do right exists, and the majority of one's acts are right, we should avoid referring to past mistakes," Mary Baker Eddy counsels Christian Scientists in her Miscellaneous Writings (p. 130). "The greatest sin that one can commit against himself is to wrong one of God's 'little ones,'" she observes.

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