The wife of the Yennyawoso District Minister of The Church of Pentecost, Mrs. Gladys Oduro, has admonished Christians to forgive their offenders in order to receive healing for their emotional wounds and live long.

According to her, bitterness is one of the killer diseases that fights against Christians and deteriorates the health of the individual.

“Many people are dying out of bitterness. When someone offends you just forgive and forget because forgiveness heals emotional wounds and prolongs one's life,” she advised.

She emphasized that bitterness ruins one's relationship with God and other people, and hinders the prayers of the individual as well.
She, therefore, cautioned all not to harbour pain and bitterness in their heart, saying, “If someone hurts you, it is good to go to them and point out their fault so that peace prevails.”

Mrs. Oduro, however, stated: “For the sake of peace, if going to point out one's fault will even inflame passions and worsen the situation, it will be prudent to stop and forget about it.”

She reminded Christians that forgiveness is reciprocal, stressing that “if we do not let go of our brothers' sins, God will not also forgive us our sins.”

Mrs. Oduro made these assertions during the Yennyawoso District 2020 Christmas Convention on Saturday, December 26, 2020, at Krofrom M/A Division School Park, Kumasi. The convention was held under the theme, “Jesus Christ; The Prince of Peace” - (Isaiah 9:6).

Dilating on “Peace” with Romans 12:18 as the anchor text for her sermon, Mrs. Oduro charged believers to strive to live at peace with all manner of persons. She admitted that, “though some people are irritating and disturbing to handle and live with, we are enjoined as Christians to tolerate and accommodate them.”

She noted that it is not just enough for believers to accept Jesus Christ, who is the Prince of Peace but they are to demonstrate His peaceful nature to others.

Describing Christians as agents of peace and peacemakers, Mrs. Oduro urged them to make way for such qualities to reflect in their marriages, families, homes, workplaces, among others.

“As Christian couples, we should not consider divorce as an option when things turn out to be horrendous because marriage is a lifelong journey,” she indicated, adding, “Whatever the case is, we must ensure that peace ensues.”

With emphasis on peace in the church, she noted that signs and miracles that have taken nosedive in the church nowadays are due to the fact that there are factions and divisions among believers. She asked, “How can God be merciful and come to us in the midst of chaos and confusion?” She, thus, called for a change of heart and attitude to create an atmosphere of acceptance by God so that He [God] can work among His people.

Quoting Hebrews 12:14, Mrs. Gladys Oduro warned that failure to live peaceably with one another will cost Christians eternal life and for that matter, “we must try as much as possible to live by God's Word and pursue peace because the Scripture does not speak in vain.”

She also advised parents to avoid being discriminatory towards their children in order to foster unity and ensure peaceful coexistence among them.