FORBEARING AND FORGIVING by A. S. Hutchins

Seventh-Day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Thursday, February 19, 1880.

FromThe Review and Herald, Vol. 55, No. 8

FORBEARING AND FORGIVING.

By A. S. Hutchins

BY ELD. A. S. HUTCHINS.

While sin and human frailties exist, forbearance and forgiveness must be exercised, otherwise love, union, and Christian fellowship could only exist in name, either in society, in the family circle, or in the church of God. The exercise of these graces must be mutual. Hence the injunction, “Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any; even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.” Col. 3:13.

“If any man have a quarrel against any.” The marginal reading is, “a complaint against any.” Then if any man have a complaint, or accusation, against any, he should exercise a spirit of forbearance and of forgiveness toward this person. And none need to stumble or stop here to ask how or how far they shall exercise patience and long-suffering toward the erring, or those whom they hold as such, for the rule lies directly before us: “Even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.”

“But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Rom. 5:8. With these and similar scriptures before us as a lamp to our feet and a light to our path, how can the Christian, the man of God, the one who holds continued communion with Heaven, hold an erring brother, or one whom he so considers, at arm’s length, placing himself in almost an unapproachable attitude? Should two parties act thus with reference to each other, when would their hearts beat in unison? When could it be said of two thus arrayed with respect each to the other, Behold, how these brethren love each other?

Christ does not stand in this attitude with respect to the sinner. In accents of love and mercy his voice is heard: “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.”

Should the Saviour hold us at a distance until we could see, and should confess all our sins, or until our ways are all pleasing to him, who, oh! who would be saved? Ministers and leaders in our churches may be profited, as may others, by prayerfully reading and reducing to practice the wholesome instruction in Heb. 5:1-3 and Gal. 6:1, 2.

Mistakes and misunderstandings will occur; but what shall be done? Shall we take them by the blade, wounding ourselves, adding grief to grief by imagining another has wounded us? Or shall long-suffering, gentleness, and goodness actuate us, embellishing a Christian profession?

The following from Gow’s “Good Morals and Gentle Manners” shows how mistakes may occur, even while guarding against them: “To illustrate to his school the necessity of absolute precision in the statement of words, and the difficulty of acquiring it, a gentleman selected from the high school six of his most capable boys, whose average age was, perhaps, seventeen years. He explained the experiment he was about to make, and desired them to give it their close attention, in order, if possible, to repeat the words he was about to give them. The plan was to show Master A a short sentence written on a piece of paper, which he was requested to memorize and whisper to Master B, who, in turn, was to communicate it to Master C, and so on, till the last of the six should receive it, and write it upon the blackboard.

“The boys were anxious to prove that they could tell a straight story when they applied their minds to it, especially since a failure on this trial would show them inaccurate, and consequently so in all ordinary statements, where no unusual efforts were made to rejoin the words split at the column seam: report correctly. The following sentence was prepared for the trial: ‘Maternal affection is an instinct which most animals possess in common with man.’ After each boy had communicated the sentence to his neighbor, the last one wrote the following, as his version: ‘Maternal affection is an instinct which all animals possess except man.’”

By comparing these two sentences, we find the last boy states the very reverse of the sentiment expressed by the first one. This proves that it is a difficult feat of memory to repeat, even under favorable circumstances, any words uttered by another. A mind sufficiently penetrating and powerful to decide positively which of these boys was most in fault in this experiment, might be a good one to assist in the settlement of difficulties growing out of a mutual misunderstanding of words.

But the word of God does not leave the followers of Jesus dependent alone upon human wisdom here. It is our privilege to have a converted heart, a sanctified judgment, and fellowship with the great Head of the church. Such will walk in the light and not in darkness.

The record of the beloved disciple is: “If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” 1 John 1:7.

Here is an antidote for all church trials, yea, a preventive of them. “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity.”