A Myriad of Lessons

Time and time again it strikes me how meaningful forgiveness is to the Christian, whether he or she knows it or not. The page-long book of Philemon is centred around forgiveness but each time I read it, I find a new lesson. Many different things came to me when I read it today and I want to share them with you.

In the book of Philemon, Paul acts as a diplomat of Christ, interceding between Philemon and his former slave Onesimus. By running away from his master, Onesimus automatically became a fugitive and his easiest option was to return to Philemon, beg for forgiveness and ultimately receive a branding on his forehead with the letter ‘F’ to ensure that he never forgot he was once a fugitive.

After becoming a Christian, Onesimus became eager to return to Philemon and make it all up to him (running away meant he’d wronged him), and the book of Philemon is Paul’s letter defending Onesimus. The name Onesimus itself means ‘useful’. Paul tells Philemon that before he ran away, Onesimus was useless to him anyway (v. 11) but then he found Jesus and he was now useful to the ministry. He pleads with Philemon to take Onesimus back not as a slave but as a brother in Christ (v. 16).

Paul obviously knew what the Onesimus name meant and he knew that Philemon would know it too. His play on words were likely to strike a chord with Philemon. It’s a lesson on how crucial words are. We can’t throw out words as we please or speak to people in just any manner. Paul reasons with Philemon saying that ‘perhaps’ Onesimus had to leave Philemon for a reason (v.15). Thing is, Paul wasn’t sure. He was willing to bet that MAYBE if you’ve put your life in God’s hands everything will happen just as He wants it to.

When someone wrongs us, as in the case of Philemon, we may not always fully understand why. Especially if we’ve shown kindness to the person, opened up our hearts to the person, cared for the person, etc. Forgiveness is a delicate topic because it can be very difficult to actually achieve. It’s helpful to remember like Paul that we must keep in mind that God sees and knows everything that happens to us. Perhaps He allows the things we see as negative to happen to us. We’ll never know the mind of God and it’s probably best that way because we may be unable to comprehend or understand His purpose for our lives, but the things that our human minds see as negative or evil are always things that God can bring good out of because HE LOVES US!