Unlimited: No More Hatred!
Mar 3, 2022 993
There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends (John 15:13, NLT).
There is a power that is stronger than hatred. It is the power of forgiveness.
During WWII, Scottish soldiers were forced by their Japanese captors to labor on a jungle railroad. Under the brutality of the Japanese, the men degenerated to barbarous behavior. One afternoon, a shovel went missing.
The officer got his gun and threatened to kill them all on the spot unless the missing shovel was produced. Finally, one man stepped forward. The officer picked up another shovel, and beat the man to death.
When it was over, it was discovered at the second tool check that the shovel wasn’t missing after all.
The word spread like wildfire through the whole camp. An innocent man had been willing to die to save the others! The incident had a profound effect.
We don’t need more hatred. What we need is forgiveness.
The men began to treat each other like brothers. When the victorious Allies swept in, the survivors, human skeletons, lined up in front of their captors, and instead of attacking their captors, insisted:
No more hatred. No more killing. Now what we need is forgiveness.
Sacrificial love has transforming power. It is the very power of Christ, given to us through his Spirit. We don’t need more hatred.
We need to learn what it is to walk as God’s forgiven children, and never look back again. – Eliezer Gonzalez
(Story told by Dale Ratzlaff, taken from Ernest Gordon’s Miracle on the River Kwai)
Reflection: Is there someone whom you need to forgive – perhaps have needed to for a very long time? It can be one of the most difficult things in the world. Look to the sacrificial love that Christ demonstrated at Calvary. Let its power transform you.
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