Free to Forgive

In 1999, a group of Hindu fundamentalists in India set fire to a jeep, killing Australian missionary, Graham Staines and his two young sons. The missionary and his family ran a home for the lepers in Orissa state and the mob was angry over the Christian conversions among villagers in the area. The wife and mother, Gladys Staines, heard the news and she told the Indian media that she forgave those who killed her family. The killings, the arrests related to them, and Mrs. Staines' attitude toward it all captured the attention of the nation. Now, this woman's last name has become a term used to describe great forgiveness. Those who forgive great wrongs done to them are said to be "doing a Staines."

The radical forgiveness that becometh the saints of God is something other religions and philosophies have difficulty comprehending. The ideas of revenge and repercussion dominate other messages, but not the message of the Gospel. Christian forgiveness brings trembling to many places in the world. It shakes the Hindu world. It shakes the Islamic world. It shakes the Communist world. It shakes the capitalistic world. It shakes our world.

saying, "Lord, whether I get out of here or not, I worship You as the One who has saved me and forgiven me and given me Your Holy Spirit." No wonder Stephen's face was shining like an angel. No wonder our churches have such a future, for we live in the Spirit and live in this faith and live in this love. The Holy Spirit is saying, Amen! That is My nature! Love one another very much. Forgive one another very much for I have forgiven you.

This is a great teaching and a great theme. It is the key to our anointing. When you will not forgive, the anointing God may have given to you is lifted and you become like an empty shell. You may continue and continue, but you don't have the power because you are not forgiving. We have to guard the work of God for we are not natural men, we are people of faith and we believe God will do this.

God doesn't ask much from us. Only that we live in the light. When you forgive your husband or your wife, just continue and don't change. When the thought about what happened resurfaces, just purpose to forget it. Just continue in the same spirit that you are called to walk in. Give grace, give mercy, give love. Deal with bitterness as Joseph learned to deal with it. Give the thing to God.

(an excerpt from Free to Forgive, by Pastor Thomas Schaller)