Aspects of Forgiveness, Part 4

"Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors."
And Love is reflected in love.

"Jesus beheld in Science the perfect man, who appeared to him where sinning mortal man appears to mortals. In this perfect man the Saviour saw God's own likeness, and this correct view of man healed the sick."

Do you think Jesus saw people to forgive? people who had sinned, done evil things, people who were bad and hurtful and maybe even unforgivable?

What did Jesus say to the crowd about to stone the woman caught in the act of prostituting herself? "He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her."

The Gospel records that crowd was convicted by their own conscience - not by Jesus, whose pure view of them awakened their inherent natural humility that their self-righteousness had hidden.

And what did he say to the prostitute?

"...he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?
She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more."

"Go and sin no more."

Go and be who you really are: not someone who needs to sell themselves to survive, but God's perfect child, dearly loved and cared for, whose very hairs are all numbered by the Father.

How could Jesus have said such a thing?

Because he saw things differently. He saw things spiritually. He "beheld her - and the crowd - in Science". He saw every situation - including this intense one - from God's perfect perspective. And this correct view not only saved the crowd from committing murder, it saved the prostitute from an adulterated life of sin.

This gives you something vital to understand and to practice.

Real forgiveness is seeing things differently. It is seeing others - and yourself - from a higher, more Christly perspective. It is putting that seeing into action in your life. It is yielding to God's unbounded grace and allowing that to feed your famished affections. It is living your natural state of being as the perfect reflection of God a moment at a time.

Love - true seeing - is always reflected in love - true being.