If you are at all familiar with the Bible, you have most likely heard of the story of the prodigal son. I believe that this story has a great theme and meaning for all of us today.

The story as it goes is about a father who has two sons. His younger son asks for his inheritance early and the father gives in to his request. The other son stays with the father and does not receive his share yet. After the younger son gets his inheritance, he leaves and squanders the entire amount and soon has nothing left. When a famine hits the area, the younger son eventually returns home.

When he returns home, the father opens up his arms and rejoices in his returning. He does not tell his son how foolish he was and does not hold a grudge in any way. He simply rejoices. He loves his son so much that he does not get angry with him. Instead, he focuses on the fact that he has returned.

The older brother at this point is completely disgusted and cannot understand why his father is rejoicing. I mean after all, the younger son was foolish. Why didn’t the father see this, the older brother wondered?

In my opinion, this story is a story filled with a tremendous theme about God and His character. God does not hold grudges against is and no matter how far away we get from Him, He always rejoices when we come back. God also does not care how bad we have been. We could have committed the greatest of all sins, but if we come back to God with humble hearts and the right attitude, God is waiting there with open arms. He is rejoicing in our return.

I think that this theme can also be taken one step further. If God is willing to do this for us, shouldn’t we treat all people this way? Shouldn’t we stop holding grudges and shouldn’t we just love people and rejoice with them?