Paul and Onesimus

One of my favorite Bible illustrations of someone willing to go against the norms of society to befriend another based on love and forgiveness is found in the New Testament book of Philemon. It is a moving and profound letter written by the apostle Paul while he was imprisoned in Rome. Paul wrote to Philemon on behalf of Philemon’s runaway slave Onesimus, who had stolen from him.

The apostle Paul not only asked Philemon to forgive his runaway slave but ultimately to receive Onesimus back into his home as an equal instead of a slave. It is interesting to note that Onesimus’s name meant…