Testimony of Healing March 2, 2020 Issue

Forgiveness brings right employment

Elizabeth Schmidt Irwin

Jesus, what precept is like thine:
Forgive, as ye would be forgiven;
If heeded, O what power divine
Would then transform our earth to heaven.
(Mary A. Livermore, Christian Science Hymnal, No. 163, adapt. © CSBD)

Though Jesus was glorified by multitudes of people, he was scorned by Pharisees, elders, and scribes, and was ultimately arrested and condemned to death. Yet on the cross, he forgave his persecutors. What an example for us! And he once told his disciple Peter to forgive his brother not seven times (as Peter suggested), but “seventy times seven” (Matthew 18:22). Jesus also gave a beautiful illustration of love and forgiveness in the parable of the prodigal son (see Luke 15:11–32). And the Lord’s Prayer that he gave us says, “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors” (Matthew 6:12).