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Key Bible Verse: And he has committed to us the ministry of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:19b). Bonus Reading: 2 Corinthians 5:15-6:2

of imprisonment with a message of forgiveness and reconciliation, not revenge. F. W. De Klerk told his congregation that God was calling him to save all the people of South Africa, even though he knew that would mean rejection by his own people.

Black leaders insisted that De Klerk apologize for racial apartheid. He balked, because those who started the policy included his own father. But Bishop Desmond Tutu believed it essential that reconciliation in South Africa begin with forgiveness, and wouldn't relent. Eventually, De Klerk did apologize.

Now the minister of justice sounds downright theological as he formulates policy: No one can forgive on behalf of victims; victims have to forgive for themselves. No one can forgive without full disclosure; who did what must first be revealed. Those who committed the atrocities must agree to ask for forgiveness before it can be granted.

Instead of scenes of massacre and civil war, the world was treated to the sight of black South Africans in long, snaking lines, dancing in jubilation over their first-ever opportunity to vote.

—Philip Yancey in What's So Amazing About Grace?

• Pray for reconciliation in your country. How can you help?

Thought to Apply: Forgiveness needs to be accepted, as well as given, before it is complete.

—C. S. LEWIS (BRITISH SCHOLAR AND WRITER)

Credits: Adapted from—Wednesday: What's So Amazing About Grace? (Zondervan, 1997)

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