Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” - Luke 23:34

Read Luke 23: 32 – 43.

My father is a subsistence farmer. He grows crops and raises animals to feed our family of eight children. In 2007 my father’s nephew gave him a young pig to raise and breed. He built it a pen and, after several months, the pig gave birth to six little piglets. They moved around our home eating green plants such as blackjack leaves and sweet potato leaves.

Our neighbor was not happy to see them and one day he poisoned them by applying poisonous chemicals on the vegetation. We knew he had done this terrible thing. When my father asked him why, he answered, “They were disturbing me.”

My father reported the matter to the Village Head who required our neighbor to replace my father’s pigs. Throughout this ordeal my father asked himself, “What does God say when people do terrible things to us?” Matthew 18:35 teaches us that the Lord shall forgive us if we forgive our neighbors with a true heart. And that is what my father did. He told the public that he had forgiven the man.

I felt angry when I heard this, since I was not born again during that time. When we were in need some months later, God worked through others to feed our family. We received a bag of maize from some of our neighbors and others offered to pay my school fees until 2009, when I finished secondary school.

Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” - Luke 23:34

God blesses people who forgive their neighbors. Jesus asked God to forgive the very people who crucified him on the cross. This act of love is also a challenge – it means we are called to forgive people who are sources of trouble in our lives.

Prayer: Our Almighty Father, we ask you to give us the Spirit of forgiving others in order to fulfill your words. Amen.

John Nyadaufe, 19

Mpenya Circuit