When To Be Gracious
In 1987, Ronald Reagan realized the cold war with the Soviet Union was over. Media attention was given to Soviet leader Gorbachev when he came to the United States. The media gave most of the credit to Gorbachev although Reagan deserved the majority of it since Gorbachev accepted Reagan’s plan. Reagan was very gracious in victory (D’Souza, Ronald Reagan, p 192).
On the other hand, Alfred the Great had frequently been forgiving and trusting of Viking plunderers who then betrayed his trust and ravaged his land. At one point, Alfred built a small fleet to oppose the Viking raids that kept ruining his land. During the first encounter, his fleet defeated six Viking ships. The crews of two ships had been captured and brought to Alfred. Perhaps they counted on him being gracious and pardoning them so they would experience no repercussions for their crimes. He hung them as pirates (Pollard, Alfred the Great, p 293).
We should be as gracious to others as possible when the situation warrants a gracious approach. Like Reagan, we should be gracious enough to give others their opportunity to shine – even if we deserve more of the credit than we are getting. However, there are times, as Alfred realized, when magnanimity is a fault rather than a virtue. It was best for England to hang the Viking pirates. We need discernment to know when to let others suffer the natural consequences of their actions and when to suspend such consequences. In general, we should look to see if they have admitted their wrongdoing (Prov 28:13), shown they have turned from it (Mt 3:8) with appropriate restitution to the fullest extent that is possible (Ex 22:3), and, even then, only possibly spare them of the logical consequences of their actions if what they did was an unintentional mistake (Num 15:29-31).
Comforting others is costly but worth it.