Thursday
June 5
Forgiveness Brings
Personal Peace
OPINION
Matt. 5:43-45; Eph. 4:32
Have you ever had an argument or an unkind word spoken in anger? Had an
article taken from you without knowing? How did you feel? Were you able to forgive
that person? A few years ago | read a story of a young man who was about to
experience what it means to forgive and truly receive personal peace.
It was 1938 when 18-year-old Joseph Mavsar* left home to study for the ministry.
He had heard many sermons
about forgiveness. In a few short
years, however, he was to
discover how hard it became to
live out those sermons.
in 1941, four years prior to
the end of the Second World
War, italy invaded Yugoslavia and occupied Joseph's village. The family’s trouble
increased when his father, a respected leader, refused to be conscripted into the
local Communist resistance.
The family gathered for Christmas of 1942. Two days later the Communists
invaded the house and killed Joseph's parents, four brothers, and his sister. Joseph
and his 12-year-old brother, Bill, escaped by jumping from the second-floor window
and fleeing into the woods. The Communists burned the other bodies and stole
the family’s belongings. Only the two brothers of this large family survived the war.
Joseph went to the United States in 1948 as a minister. He amazed some,
shocked others, as he preached forgiveness for war crimes. He wanted everyone
to know the truth of what happened to his family.
Approaching the twenty-fifth anniversary of his ordination, Joseph still struggled
to forgive personally the people who had killed his family and ransacked the family
home. A cousin in Yugoslavia wrote to Joseph, explaining that some of the killers
were haunted by what they had done. He requested that Joseph come back and
make peace with them.
Joseph returned to the village, found one of the Communists living in his father’s
house. “As | shook this man’s hand and told him | forgave him,” Joseph recalls, “he
thanked me over and over and said it was the best day of his life.”
In his old age, Joseph continued to preach forgiveness. He said, “In life we
cannot be happy unless we are able to forgive. It is important to forgive, no matter
how much pain we endure.” He knows what he is talking about.
Joseph had heard many
sermons about
forgiveness.
*Nelson Word, Devotional and Study Aids (Loveland, Colo.: Group Publishing, 1993), p. 859.
Stuart Joseph, Bracknell, England
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