Series Introduction: For the next seven days, we will be reading the Bible with Rev. Priyantha from the Bible Society of Ceylon. He will reflect on Bible passages which speak of embracing reconciliation, on the importance of loving one another, and remembering that God helps us to say ‘Yes, I can’, even when faced with many of life’s challenges.
Reflection: The Sri Lankan war was characterised by ethnic tensions between the majority Sinhalese population and the Tamil minority. The conflict had its roots in historical grievances, discrimination, and disparities between the Sinhalese and Tamil communities.
When I was doing student ministry, I brought a group of Tamil students to the Southern part of Sri Lanka, which consists of many Sinhalese, and gave them an opportunity to meet a group of Sinhala students. Initially when they met, they were very aggressive and arrogant with each other. Both groups had in mind their bad memories of the war. In the beginning they accused each other of the negative consequences of the war, mainly because they had lost their families and loved ones. But later, they understood that all were in the same situation, and had endured a difficult time due to the war.
Even in the quoted Bible passage, we can see that Jacob was guilty. Yet Esau forgot all the bad memories that existed between him and Jacob and embraced Jacob and cried out. So, we should realise that to overcome bad memories, we should forget negative thoughts, as mentioned in Colossians 3:13 (NIV), “Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”
Prayer: Dear Lord, we seek your help and favour to forget our hurtful memories, to let go of grudges and to forgive one another. We thank you, Lord, for forgiving our sins and for giving us a new life so that we could have a fellowship with you. Please strengthen us to forgive others just the way you forgave us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.