Philemon 1:10-12 [AMP]
I appeal to you for my [own spiritual] child, Onesimus [meaning profitable], whom I have begotten [in the faith] while a captive in these chains.
Once he was unprofitable to you, but now he is indeed profitable to you as well as to me.
I am sending him back to you in his own person, [and it is like sending] my very heart.
It is so tender to hear Paul’s heart for Onesimus. Paul had truly taken him in as his own. If I think about this in todays circumstances, it would be like me taking in someone (like a work contractor) that botched a kitchen remodel and had abused their access to my friend’s home by stealing from them in the process. I then would mentor and invest in this person spiritually, winning them over to the Lord and assist in building them up in their sanctification.
What Paul is doing with Philemon would be like me asking my friend to take back this contractor, trusting them again with work on their home and trusting them not to steal again. On top of that I would be asking my friend to treat that person as though they were my child; my heart. When I think about this way, it was a super tall order to appeal to Philemon to do.
Application:
I am searching my judging heart and interrogating myself on whether I would accept this appeal to re-associate with someone who had wronged my in a way like Onesimus did to Philemon. Jesus is a 100% accepter of changed hearts…I too need to have a heart that accepts reconciled children of God.