God wants to make us like Jesus, Perfect in love

Dear brothers and sisters, Jesus defined eternal life in very different ways from which most believers even understand it. If someone were to ask you, what is eternal life? Many people would think of living eternity in heaven. That's eternal life. But Jesus described it in John 17 verse 3. It's got nothing to do with length of life. Absolutely not. It's got to do with quality of life. See, as human beings we always think of quantity. Eternity with God. How wonderful that would be. Millions and millions of years. But in the scripture, quantity is never emphasized. You know, there's a verse in Psalm 91. It says, with long life I will satisfy him. Did Jesus live a long life? Yet he could say, I finished my course. And so many great saints have died in their 20s and 30s. Godly men. What is eternal life? John 17 verse 3. Eternal life is to know God. It's got nothing to do with length of life. It's got nothing to do with heaven. You can have eternal life right now. The more you know God, the more you have eternal life. And that's why Paul told Timothy. And Timothy was about 45 years old, having walked with Paul for about 25 years. Paul tells Timothy in 1 Timothy 6. I want to give you an exhortation. 1 Timothy 6. He says, 1 Timothy 6 verse 12. Take hold of eternal life. What's that? Is he telling Timothy to be born again? Is he telling Timothy to take hold of the fact that he's going to live for eternity in heaven? No. Towards the end of his life, Paul tells Timothy, remember, Timothy, if you want to really serve God, take hold of eternal life. Get to know God better. That is eternal life. And that's the thing that we need to ask ourselves, like we heard Jeremy saying in the beginning, to know what God is really like. That is to know him. And there, if you're like that servant who buried his talent in the ground, then you need to know God is a kind, loving Father. Like you saw in that picture, embracing the prodigal son. And the Bible speaks about two aspects of God in Romans chapter 11. And it tells us to look carefully. Whenever you read the word, behold, Romans 11 32, it means look carefully. Here's an exhortation. Romans 11 32. Look carefully and intently at the kindness and the severity of God. That servant who buried his talent kept on concentrating on the severity of God. And he messed up his life. He wasted his life. That talent is like the one life God has given us. And you can bury it. Burying it on the ground means using our life for earthly things. I'm going to heaven when I die. So it doesn't matter. I can spend my life for earthly things. You haven't understood God. You think God is a hard taskmaster. He'll demand more from you. But there's the opposite also of people who are so taken up with the severity of God. They're afraid that they don't see his kindness. We need to see both. So it may be a different need in each of our lives. It's not a standard message for every one of you listening. You need to ask yourself, what is the natural tendency of your heart? When you think of God, do you think of his severity? Or do you think of his kindness? We need to see both. Because God is kind and severe and says, look carefully at both. And there may be times when we concentrate on his severity. Then we need to switch and meditate on his kindness. And how do we know which we are? For example, if you concentrate on the severity of God, if you have fallen away from him or sinned like the prodigal in the country, you'll never come back. Because you'll think God is like the elder brother who didn't want the younger brother back. You can think of God like that. You'll never come back to the father's house. You'll always think that he's a person who's always standing there with a whip. But if you see him as a kind God and loving father, that's what made that prodigal son come back. But equally, if our understanding of God is so kind, think of his, don't think of anything else, think of his love. I believe what has led the charismatic movement astray. Most of its leaders, they hardly ever speak about sin. They hardly ever speak about the severity of God. It's always kindness, kindness, kindness, kindness. And look at the condition of, I would never want to be a part of that, of most Pentecostals. There are some godly men there. But as a movement, because they're concentrated on kindness and kindness, maybe it's a reaction to some other holiness movement that kept on emphasizing severity. And whenever our life is a reaction to something else, we go off to an extreme. Our life must be based on scripture. And if we ourselves are going in one direction, then I need to see the other side. And there's that constant need. That's why Jesus said the life, the way is a narrow way. There's a cliff on either side. And we're not always bent in one direction. There are times when we are moving towards, oh, God's so kind, and I begin to take advantage, or God's so severe, and I get all condemned. Then I need to move back. Always think of the way as a narrow way. And if I find myself drifting to the left or right, turn towards the other direction. There is no fixed answer to this. God is kind and God is severe. And if we ask ourselves, the other thing that Jeremy mentioned was the importance of living by faith and not by sight. And faith, again, is not just in terms of believing that God has given me the Holy Spirit or filled me with the Holy Spirit. That's very important. We do not live by feelings. We live by faith in God's word, not faith in our imagination, faith in the word of God. If we have a clear word of God to stand on, that's a solid foundation. You know, Jesus said, he who hears my word and does them is on a solid rock. He'll never shake. But it also, I believe it implies that we believe that God, for example, faith, to have faith in 1 Corinthians 10 verse 13, that's faith. God will never allow me to be tested beyond my ability. This is the father I worship. It's a perfect assurance in a loving father who will never, never, not in a million years, allow me to face some situation for which he will not give me grace. I want to ask you, my brothers and sisters, do you have that confidence? This is to know God. You have that faith. It'll change your life. It'll bring a rest into your heart concerning your family, posing your problem in some of your children. And you think, how will it be like that? Will I die soon and leave my children helpless? What a wonderful thing it is to have faith that my father in heaven, who has numbered my days, according to Psalm 139, will never allow me to face something for which he will not give grace. David said, I've seen, I've been young and now I'm old. I've never seen a righteous man forsaken. I've never seen a seed begging for bread. Do you believe that? I believe it. It makes a tremendous difference because a lot of anxiety and fear, particularly in the world today, the Bible says, I mean, Jesus says that some terrible things, you read in Luke 21, some terrible things are going to happen in the world that people are going to shake in fear. The opposite of fear is faith. When faith comes in, fear goes out. When fear comes in, faith goes out. Fear and faith can never live at the same time in your heart. Please say this. Remember this always. If there's fear in your heart, you can be absolutely sure faith is not there. Faith is being pushed out. And the only way to drive out fear is by faith. Faith not in some promise. I mean, for example, you know, we heard about the son of Solomon. To me, that's a very precious part of scripture is the first book of the Bible that the Lord told me to study or led me to study when I was born again. I didn't know anything about the Bible, but I was all alone in a ship. And the only commentary I had there with me was on son of Solomon. And I didn't know how to study the Bible. I read that commentary and I went into the son of Solomon and it really blessed my heart because it showed me that the Lord wanted me to have a bridal relationship with him, a bride-bridegroom relationship. And I don't believe that every believer has that. They should have it. Every single born again believer should have this bridal relationship with Jesus. So when you read these wonderful things that the bridegroom says to the bride, it's so comforting. But you need to ask yourself also, is he saying that to you? Do you have a bridal relationship with him? Think of a wife who only has eyes for her husband. She doesn't have eyes for any man. There may be many attractive men, rich men, but she has eyes for nobody, even if her husband is not good looking or not so smart or not so clever. She has no eyes for somebody who's cleverer, smarter, richer. She only has eyes for her husband. That's a loyal bride. And if you have that type of relationship with Jesus, Lord, money will not attract me. Never. My eyes are on you. Any amount of money is not going to attract me. I will not do something if it's going to make more money. It's going to take me away from you. No, my mind will not be on some other man and that some other man is money. It will be on you, Jesus. It will not be on some dirty movie or pornography. No, it will only be on you. If you are that type of bride, every single thing that the bridegroom says in the Song of Solomon is for you. It's a wonderful relationship to be in. But if you're a sort of a careless type of Christian and you say, ah, I'm living in the Song of Solomon, you live as you like, you're fooling yourself. If you think all those things that the bridegroom says in Song of Solomon is for you, it's not for you, it's for the bride. Who is the harlot? The harlot is the one who pretends to love the bridegroom, but has got eyes on other things. And so faith is not just believing that God loved us. You've got to take the whole of Scripture. See, for example, the Apostle Paul towards the end of his life, he said, I want to know him more. I told you, knowing God is eternal life. And Paul, who had known God for 30 years, known the Lord. Towards the end of his life, he gives his testimony in Philippians 3.10. I want to know him more. Just like he told Timothy, lay hold of eternal life, get to know the Lord better. Dear brothers and sisters, is that the passion of your life? I want to know Jesus better. That's the only way to come to rest. You don't come to rest by reminding yourself of some promise. Ah, this verse, that promises rest. No, it's by knowing the husband. I mean, for example, you wives, when you're in some trouble and you need help, and you don't know whether your husband will help you, what do you remind yourself? You say, ah, I remember 30 years ago, when I got married, he made this promise. This is the vow he made. I will forsake all and follow you. Is that how you find faith in your husband? Reminding yourself of some vow that you heard him say 30 years ago? That's like trying to remember a verse and saying, I'm going to put my faith in that verse. I put my faith in the vow that my husband made 30 years ago at our wedding. No, it is in the person of your husband. You know he's reliable. You know he will not let you down. You don't even remember what he said on your wedding day. You don't remember the vows, but you know your husband. You know, for 1,400 years, people didn't have a printed Bible. They couldn't remember verses like we have. There was no question of having a memory verse for 1,400 years of Christianity. Why did God not allow the printing press to be invented 100 years before Christ, so that people could know the Bible and have a printed Bible right from day one on the day of Pentecost? No. God wanted them to depend on the Holy Spirit. He wanted them to know him more than they knew the Bible. The Bible is only a means by which you get to know the Lord. So dear brothers and sisters, please make sure your knowledge of the Lord is, if you find yourself moving towards severity, meditate on his kindness. If you find yourself taking advantage of his kindness, remember that he's also strict. A good father is strict and kind. I remember when I went back to India once many years ago after I had grandchildren. One of them in the church asked me, Brother Zach, you've been a very strict father with your children. What would you do if you see your little grandson being disciplined by his father? I said, I'll go for a walk and come back hopefully when it's all over, because I don't want to see that. But when my grandson comes crying to me, I'll say, listen, that's good for you what your dad is doing. I haven't changed my opinion on it, but I said, I'm a grandfather. I will never discipline my grandchildren. And then I said to those brothers, that is the proof that God is not a grandfather. No, he's not a grandfather. He disciplines his children and he loves them. So we need to understand that. Paul said, I want to know him. And the father is the resurrection. And he says, I have not yet attained. I have not yet obtained. I've not yet got to know God, Philippians 3.12, as I should. My knowledge of God is not perfect. So what do I do? Every day I'm pressing on. Pressing on to what? To bring more souls to Christ? That's what a lot of world talks about. No, I'll tell you honestly, I'm not trying to press on to bring more souls to Christ. I'm pressing on to know my savior better, to be more intimate to him. And the results will flow from that. I'm not going to do great things for God. I've never had that interest. I say, Lord, I want to have a relationship with you. And from that relationship, results will come without my efforts. That's how it's been through the years. And I can see that that is how it was in Paul's life. What is God's ultimate goal for you? And you know, when he created Adam, he had a plan. That plan got disturbed by sin. And so what we see in the old covenant is God's permissive will. That is such a thing as God's permissive will, what he permits. Not his perfect will. His perfect will is what we see in the new covenant. In the old covenant, what we see is God's permissive will, what he permitted. He permitted divorce, for example. That wasn't his will. God didn't want a man getting married and divorce his wife, but he permitted it in the Old Testament. He said, just make sure you give a certificate when you divorce your wife. Was that God's perfect will? Not at all. It was God's permissive will. And the Ten Commandments, you think that was God's perfect will? No. That was God's permissive will. When a Christian lives by the Ten Commandments, he's living under the old covenant. When you come to the Sermon on the Mount, you see how Jesus explained that and explained what God's perfect will was. Not don't murder, but don't get angry. Not don't commit adultery, but don't lust after women. That's God's perfect will. Permissive will was, okay, you can lust after women, but don't commit adultery. You can get angry, permit it, but don't murder. And it's a great danger of even Christians living by God's permissive will instead of his perfect will. If you want to know God's perfect will, you remember what the Lord told the Pharisees when they said, why did God permit divorce? He said, was it like that in the beginning? That's what he said in Matthew 19. Did God make two women for Adam and say, okay, if you get fed up with them, choose the other one? No. He made one woman. Divorce was never permitted by God at any time. I mean, he permitted it in the Old Testament, but it was not his perfect will. What about God's perfect will for us today? You got to go back to the beginning like the Lord told the Pharisees. How was it in the beginning? How was it in the beginning when God made Adam? He said something, which he never said when he created anything else. I want you to see that four times, four times, something is repeated. Sometimes we don't see the value of something repeated four times. Turn with me to Genesis chapter one. When God made the animals or he made the trees or the plants, he never said beforehand, this is what my purpose in making trees or plants or planets or fish or animals or anything. But before he creates man, he says specifically, this is my purpose. Have you read that? Before he made man, he said something that he never said before he made anything else. And that's in Genesis 1 26. Let us make man in our image. Okay, we got it. No, the Lord says I've got to repeat it. According to our likeness. Yeah. That is God's original purpose. Not that you might bring souls to Christ. Not that you might attend meetings and sing songs of praise. No, that you and I might reflect his image. That people who see you, the way you behave, the way you handle different situations, will know what Jesus is like, what God is like. And then, then it's the event is recorded in verse 27. God created man in his own image. Got it. No, it has to be repeated. In the image of God, he created him. You notice that emphasis four times in verse 26 and 27, not just once, once would have been enough. Four times it is repeated in his image, in his image, in his image. And in those words, you have God's original purpose for man. And if you are not increasing in likeness to Christ, we are frustrating God's purpose. No matter how many meetings you attend, no matter how well you sing, no matter how much you serve God, no matter how well you share in the meetings, it's all worthless. If we are not increasing in the image of God and the likeness to God in our personal life, in the way we live it at home with our wife and husband and children, and in the way we work in the office and the way we treat people whom we meet casually anywhere, the likeness of God, that is God's passion. That was his passion when he made man. The angels didn't have it. I want to make someone who, when people look at them, they'll know what I'm like. And that's what Jesus said was the greatest thing about him. He told Philip, if you'll see me, you'll see the father. Turn with me to John's gospel. And we read in John 14 verse 9, he tells father, if you have seen me, I'm in the father, the father is in me. John 14 verse 9 to 11. Have I been so long time with you? Not only Philip verse 9, you have seen me, I've seen the father. There's no need to see the father if you've seen me. And then Jesus said, as the father sent me, I send you. He later on said after the resurrection. Why did the father send him? So that he could say to people, if you've seen me, you've seen the father. Now listen to this. Put that verse next to what he said in John 20. As the father sent me, so I send you. My brother, sister, what is your primary calling as a Christian? So that you should be able to say, if you've seen the way I behave, you've seen a little bit of what the way Jesus behaves. If you've seen my attitude to material things, you've seen a little bit of Jesus attitude to material things. If you've seen my attitude to people who treat me badly, you've seen Jesus attitude. If you've seen me, you've seen Jesus. Paul says I'm not perfect, and you have to say that too. All of us have to say, we can't say that fully yet. My question is, are you pressing on to God's original purpose? And I want to explain what that is. What is God like? What does it mean, the image of God? We wanted man to reflect his image. We immediately think of holiness. God is holy. In one John 1, it says God is light. In one word, it's described, God is light. And we would think light refers to holiness. But no. In one John 4 and verse 16, it says God is love. And so light is love, primarily. God is love. God is light. It means the same thing. If we walk in the light, as God is in the light, we have fellowship with one another. If you can walk recognizing all the time, God is perfect love. And that's why he hates sin. It's because a mother loves her child so much perfectly, that she hates any disease in that child. She wants to heal that child of sickness, even a small injury. The mother wants the child to be healed because the mother loves the child perfectly. And that's the way God wants to free us from anything in us which is sinful. A sinful attitude to someone. An unforgiving attitude. God hates it just like a mother hates some sickness in his child. God is light. God is love. If we walk in the light, we have fellowship with one another. You recognize all the time, God is trying to perfect me in love. And that means, first of all, to be rooted in the fact that God loves me perfectly. I've often said when people ask me, what do you think is the most important verse in the Bible? To many Christians, it is John 3.16. I say I believed John 3.16 for many years, and I was very insecure. Very insecure in the 16 years of my Christian life. After I was born again, I was insecure. I believed John 3.16 completely. But one day, God showed me John 17.23. To me, that has become the most important verse in the Bible for me. To me, it has become the central verse in the Bible. The Father loves me as much as, and exactly as, he loved Jesus Christ. I got that revelation. It changed my life 45 years ago. It's on the basis of that that I wrote that hymn, what he's done for Jesus, he will do for you. As he cared for Jesus, he will care for you. As he helped Jesus, he will help you. It changed my life, and that's how I wrote that hymn. John 17.23, that the world may know the last five adverse, that you sent me and that you love them as you love me. And I say, as I live in the world, and the world is my meeting with people like you and meeting with unconverted people, do they get the feeling that this is a man whom God loves so intensely? He's a peculiar man. He's a peculiar, she's a peculiar woman. She must be one whom God loves intensely, not because she's rich, not because she's good-looking. No, no, no, no. But she's so secure and so full of joy, never murmuring, grumbling about anything, no matter what trial comes into her life. Such perfect peace, radiant, radiating in their face. This must be a man or woman whom God loves intensely. That the world may know that you love them as you love me. I used to, in the early days when I understood that, I told it to everybody. When I read John 17, I discovered that it's not for everybody. In fact, in John 17, Jesus said, I'm not praying for the world, John 17 verse 9, but those whom you have given me, those who forsook everything to follow me, those who have chosen me as the bridegroom, it's for them. It's not for everybody. Your husband will tell you things that he'll never tell any other woman. There are secrets between a husband and wife that no other woman will know. The secret of the Lord, Psalm 25, is with those who reverence him. When you have a bridal relationship with Jesus, he will whisper things into your heart, he'll never whisper to anybody else. And one of the things he whispers is, I love you, and I love Jesus. Everything I did for him, I'll do for you. Everything I did for him, I'll do for you, if you walk like he did before me. Not in perfection, but in faith and simple trust. As I cared for him, I'll care for you. Nobody could kill Jesus, even though they tried so many times, until the right time came. Same for you. I'll tell you what a tremendous security it has brought into my life. I used to be a very discouraged Christian for years. It removed discouragement from my life completely. Not some verse in scripture that I had to remind myself of. No, no, no, I don't have to remind myself of verses. In fact, sometimes as I get older, I don't remember verses so well. I know where they are, but I don't remember it all well. But one thing has increased in my life, that I know my father loves me, just like he loved Jesus. Not one bit less, as much as he loved Jesus. That's what brought security into my life. That's why I've never been interested in, since that time, 45 years ago, as to how much I earn, or how much there is in my bank account, much or less, or if there's a big loss or big gain. It's all the same to me. And whether I'm sick or healthy, I know my father loves me. That's all. I don't believe he's a hard task master. He loves me. Eternal life is to know God, and to know Jesus. And God is love. And he wants to put that love in my heart. You know, I believe another thing the Pentecostal movement has led people astray is in the matter of the evidence of being filled with the Holy Spirit. They all quote Acts 2-4. I've spent my life trying to destroy that teaching. Acts 2-4 is not the mark of being filled with the Holy Spirit. That's history. And the Acts of the Apostles must never be taken to get a doctrine, because people will be selected. I'll tell you, I would say to a Pentecostal man, you say that the mark of being filled with the Holy Spirit is speaking in tongues. What about Acts 2-3? When they were filled with the Spirit, there were tongues of fire on top of their heads. What about that? What about making that as the mark of being filled with the Holy Spirit? That everyone filled with the Spirit will have a tongue of fire over his head. Or, what is even more tough, Acts 4, it says, all of them, all of them sold their property and gave it to the poor. All of them spoke in tongues. All of them sold their property and gave it to the poor. Why do you take only one verse and not the other? Why don't you say the mark of being filled with the Spirit is you sell all your property and give it to the poor? Because the Acts of the Apostles is not a book of doctrine. It's all these people who were never called to be teachers and begin to teach God's Word to lead people astray. If you've got a medical problem, you don't go to a car mechanic. If you want to understand the Word, you don't go to an evangelist, you go to a teacher. It's the same thing. So much, what is the mark then of being filled with the Holy Spirit? Don't go to the Acts of the Apostles. Go to the Epistles and read in Romans 5, verse 5. The Holy Spirit floods our hearts with the love of God. The mark of a man filled with the Holy Spirit is he's secure in the love of God. I'm loved by my Father, just like He loved Jesus, He loves me. There's no greater security you can have than that. And in response to that, I love Jesus with all my heart, like a bride who's got eyes for no one else, but only for her bridegroom. I respond like that. Lord, that's the Holy Spirit does it in me. First of all, He floods my heart with the assurance that my Father loves me like He loved Jesus. And then He does another work to make me respond to that love with a fervent love for Christ, where that destroys every other love in my heart. I won't even love people like I love Jesus. I believe you'll be able to love your wife a million times better if you love Jesus more than you love your wife. All the people who love their wives more than they love Christ, one day they'll fight and quarrel. But if you love Christ more than you love your wife, you will never ever fight with your wife or quarrel or get angry or upset. To love Jesus with all our heart is the main thing. And from there flows everything. That is God's purpose. He made man in His image to be a demonstration of love, of sacrifice. And one of the important things, one of the important aspects of that love, as I often said, and which I would like to repeat, is patience with others. Love is patience. Never upset and irritated. But to begin with, forgives others. More and more in the last year or so, God's been emphasizing this to me. Tell people to forgive everyone. Tell my people to forgive everyone. Examine their life to see whether there's one person whom they've not forgiven. And it's an act of the will. You'll remember, I remember things that people have done to me for years, evil things. But I can say before God I've forgiven them. Because forgiveness is not a matter of memory, it's a matter of your will. I choose to forgive that person completely. And to confirm that to myself, I say, Lord, I wish the best for him. I pray it'll go well with him. I pray it'll go well with his family. I pray that he'll be free from sickness and harm and everything. For my enemy, to pray for those who despitefully use you. Then you know you really love them. But it's very, and that you're forgiving them, is very, very important. The mark of Jesus' love on the cross, the clearest mark of it, was that those people who killed him, he said, Father, forgive them. They don't know what they're doing. It's very, very important, brother. How often should we do it? You know, that which is known as the Lord's Prayer, our Father who art in heaven, is actually the disciple's prayer. The Lord's Prayer is what I read in John 17. The disciple's prayer is, our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. And even though we don't have to repeat it every day, Jesus said, pray like this. That's what he said in Matthew 6 and 9, not repeated. But this should be the pattern of our prayer. Pray then in this way. All our prayers should be primarily focused on, hallowed be thy name. In the name of Jesus, we glorify that this kingdom come. And then I should have this attitude every single day in my prayer. Give us this day our daily bread. So it's a daily thing. That's the one word in that prayer which teaches us that this should be the attitude of our prayer every single day. Not give us this week our bread. It's not something you pray on Sunday and pray for the whole week. No. This day, our daily bread. And this day, verse 12, next verse, Matthew 6, 12, help me to forgive others. This day. That's also daily, as you have forgiven me. There's unconscious sin in our life every single day. We can be free from conscious sin and live many days like that, but unconscious sin is there every single day until we become like Christ. And I need to ask the Lord to forgive me. How shall you forgive me? The areas of my life that are un-Christlike until I get light on it. The way I forgive others every single day. That's not me anyway. But my attitude of forgiveness is something I need to have every single day. And it's very interesting that out of all the six requests in that prayer, it's only one request that Jesus emphasized at the end of it. Out of all those six requests, he didn't say, remember to pray for God's name to be hallowed. No. Out of all those six requests, the one thing he emphasized was forgive others. And if you don't forgive, you will not be forgiven. I believe there are many, many Christians who ask God to forgive them. If we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us, who are not forgiven because there's somebody they are not forgiven. Dear brothers and sisters, eternal life is to know God. And God is a God who forgives others. I've heard of some super spiritual believers who say, I'll be like God and I will forgive them when they repent. You have no right to say that. We are not God. We have to forgive people whether they repent or not. Our example is Jesus as a human being on the cross. Those people had not repented who killed him, but he said, forgive them. God Almighty, when he judges people, he's got the right to say, I don't forgive you because you don't repent. But we have no right to say that. If a man sins against you and he's not repented and he's going to do it again, forgive him. If he sins against you 70 times, seven in a day, forgive him. Why? Because we ourselves have been forgiven so much. I believe one of the things that happens when we come to know God is we realize how much we've been forgiven. And I tell you, that is the thing that's made it very, very easy for me to forgive others. We don't have to commit a million sins to know that you've been forgiven much. You've got to see the gravity of the sins to know that you've been forgiven much. I often say one sin committed as an unbeliever is equal to, sorry, one sin committed as a believer is equal to one million sins committed as an unbeliever. In other words, if you tell a lie today, that is like an unbeliever telling a million lies because you're a believer. If you hate one person today, it's like an unbeliever hating one million people. And then you realize how much God has forgiven you. When you multiply every sin by a million, you didn't do that only once, brother, sister, you did it a million times. Then you see the gravity of sin. Then you realize how much God has forgiven you. It becomes very, very easy to forgive others. Eternal life is to know God and to love. It determines, I will say this in closing. On earth, people are valued by their wealth, which is in terms of dollars here in the U.S. The number of dollars you have in your bank account determines your wealth. The currency of heaven is love. Remember this all your life. The currency of heaven is love. The more love you have for Jesus, the more love you have for others, you're wealthy. The less love you have for the Lord, the less love you have for others, you're a poor person. Your bank account is absolutely unimportant. May God help us.