Title: Religion of Reconciliation
Contents
Then Peter came to him and said, "Lord, if my brother sins against me, how many times shall I forgive him? Shall I do it up to seven times? Jesus said to them, I say to you, not seven times, but seventy times seven times. ... My heavenly Father will do the same to you, unless you forgive your brother centrally. (Matthew 18:21-35)
If you ask me to answer in one word what kind of religion Christianity is, I will not hesitate to answer that it is a religion of reconciliation, that is, a religion of apology and a religion of forgiveness. Christianity includes a religion of justice, a religion of rituals, and a religion of mystery. But the true core of Christianity lies in its very own religion of reconciliation. Even if you remove everything else from Christianity and leave only the faith of reconciliation, Christianity will be maintained. However, even if everything else is provided, true Christianity cannot exist unless this gospel of reconciliation is fulfilled. We must deal with the core of Christianity today. The cross that Jesus carried is a symbol of the opening of a channel of reconciliation between God and people, and between people and people. The religion of the cross is truly a religion of reconciliation, a religion of atonement and love, and ultimately a religion of reconciliation and forgiveness. What, then, does the religion of reconciliation mean?
The religion of reconciliation is the religion of forgiveness. When Jesus asked Peter how many times he would forgive his brother because he had sinned against him, he told him to forgive seventy times seven (Matthew 18:21-22). This is not to say that you only do 70 times 7 times 490 times, but it means to forgive without limit. Christianity is a religion of those who have been forgiven and those who live by forgiving others. Christians are people who live and taste the delicacy of forgiveness. This forgiveness is a life of light, a life of reconciliation that God has given us. Actually, strictly speaking, forgiveness does not refer to the virtue of tolerance, which we usually see as one of the virtues, but rather the nature of human beings without forgiveness and without forgiveness. In order for people to live their lives properly, they need to be forgiven and live with forgiveness, and they need to know the true meaning of forgiveness. To say that human nature presupposes forgiveness is responding to the statement that man is not God.
Humans are not perfect beings, but because they have flaws, there is only one God, but there are many humans. Since God is a perfect being, He cannot help but be alone. However, since humans are insecure, they have no choice but to live in harmony with others. The secret of human beings living in harmony with each other is not something else, but the way of forgiveness and love.
Some stubborn people say that I never forgive him. And he says that I have never forgiven anyone. But no one is as generous as him. The man forgives himself unconditionally for all his shortcomings, shortcomings, and wrongs, too leniently and without reproach in the slightest. Even a mother-in-law who rebukes her daughter-in-law's faults and refuses to forgive her in the slightest forgives her own mistakes. Even a stubborn father who does not forgive his own children's faults forgives his own faults and the faults of his wife. It is evidence that a person has already been forgiven and cannot live without forgiveness. Forgiveness is indeed not one of the many virtues of a good human being, but the culmination and essence of all virtues.
Even if all the blessings and graces of mankind are gathered together, there will be no blessing that can replace this blessing of forgiveness. It is because of this grace of forgiveness that friends who fought can become close friends, and that they have the confidence to stand up again after being wrong ten or twenty times. Without forgiveness, many of these flawed people cannot live together in society.
Then, let's think about how much and how much we need to receive this forgiveness. Jesus said to do it seventy times seven times. This is the word for unlimited forgiveness. There is no limit to the way of forgiveness. Humans try to set limits. However, knowing that too, you are not a human being who can set limits. This is the seed of unhappiness and an element of trouble, where humans live with limits. Living with closed doors and high walls is actually not happy. Living a life of forgiveness means living a life of openness to oneself. It is a life of living with the door wide open, and a truly beautiful life of breaking down high walls and reconciling with others. Forgiveness must be unconditional. If you put a condition on it, it's already not forgiveness. Reconciliation comes from unconditional forgiveness.
But this forgiveness is not limited to our weak will. You must receive the full help of the Holy Spirit. A life of accepting others' weaknesses and praying for them. From there, you learn to forgive and learn to love.
Freedom is a life that breaks down the barriers between human beings, and it comes from living without conditions, that is, living with forgiveness and forgiveness before all actions. The life of forgiveness and the religion of reconciliation are the religion of love.