Forgiveness is supernatural. We see it when Stephen cries out while he is being stoned (Acts 7:60). Or when Jesus prayed on the cross (Luke 23:34). As James Hoskins writes, after the victims of a horrific shooting at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church offered forgiveness to the killer, “Only a person whose soul is truly free can forgive horrible injustice committed against them. The type of strength and freedom needed to genuinely forgive an atrocity of this magnitude does not come solely from within the human spirit by sheer will power, nor does it come merely from instinct. It must be bestowed on us externally. It is only the deep knowledge (in both heart and mind) that you have been forgiven, when you did not deserve it, at great cost and pain to the One who forgave, which gives us the power and freedom to forgive others like this. One must first be shown mercy (and accept it), before he can be merciful to someone else. That is why the survivors and relatives of the Charleston shooting victims, and the family of the Coptic martyrs slain by ISIS, and the Amish community that was attacked a few years ago, can all say, ‘I forgive you’” (James Hoskins, “Forgiveness Is Supernatural,” Christ and Pop Culture, July 1, 2015, https://christandpopculture.com/forgiveness-is-supernatural/). These are extraordinary circumstances, but the same forgiveness we offer daily is also a miracle. It is evidence of a life marked by the forgiveness of Christ that overflows into everyday life.
