Philemon 1:8-11 NIV Love and Forgiveness
“Therefore, although in Christ I could be bold and order you to do what you ought to do, yet I prefer to appeal to you on the basis of love. It is as none other than Paul—an old man and now also a prisoner of Christ Jesus— that I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, who became my son while I was in chains. Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me.”
With Paul’ status, experiences and faithful in serving, he could have told or order Philemon what to do and the way he should deal with Onesimus. However, Paul chose a better way, “yet I prefer to appeal to you on the basis of love….. that I appeal to you for my son Onesimus.” With love, Paul appealed to Philemon that although Onesimus was a slave and Philemon was the boss. Onesimus accepted Jesus Christ and he was brothers in Christ, he was one of them in gospel ministry.
We are body of Christ. We may have different backgrounds or status before, now we are all the same as children of God. As Paul has shown us, do not use power to deal with people. We should express ourselves with love, consideration and respect, always with gentleness. There are times exhortation is needed, forgiveness is the key as well. All these elements will testify that we have one Lord, Jesus Christ. We are extraordinary when it comes to love God and love people.