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We must be merciful, just as our Father is merciful (Luke. 6:36), because, He is our God. If we truly are followers of Christ, we too will forgive as He does (Eph 4:32). He forgave by sacrificing His life for those who betrayed Him, were unfaithful to Him and killed Him.  In other words, the victim compensated for the sins of His offenders.  This is a very important fact, because, this is true forgiveness. If we have to accept His forgiveness, we must believe in it by doing like wise.  In other words, we must not only write-off what our offenders owe us, but also put our lives on the line in the process of helping them.  If we do not forgive others in this manner, how can we accept God’s forgiveness (Matt 18:21-34)?

  In the Old covenant people lived by the laws that were written on stone (2 Cor. 3:7).  They, therefore, followed the letter of the law.  It was, therefore, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth (Lv. 24:20).  In the New Covenant, we live by the Spirit; which means, that the Spirit of God is imprinted on our fleshy hearts (2 Cor. 3:3).  Or, in other words, the Spirit of God, which is unconditional love, is our hearts desire.  We are therefore, taught (Matt. 5: 39-40; Luke 6: 30; Matt. 5: 44) to offer no resistance to the person who is evil; offer the other cheek when struck on one; if any one sues us for our tunic, hand him our cloak as well; give to everyone who asks and do not demand back what others have taken from us; love our enemies; and pray for those persecute us. Jesus showed us that to truly love and forgive, is not only to give up resentment or claim we have against our offenders, but also to compensate for their wrongdoings. Jesus did not sue those who hurt and killed Him.  He offered them salvation by dying on the cross. He, thus, offered the other cheek.  We have only two choices, to live like Jesus did or to reject His life.