Forrest Gump at 30 and Its Faith Lessons

It was the summer of 1994. The MLB season would be cut short without a fall classic due to a strike that took place that August. The Dallas Cowboys won their second straight Super Bowl (winning their third one of the decade in 1996 to achieve a football dynasty of the decade). OJ Simpson would fall from grace over the murder of his wife and friend. 

Nelson Mandela was the first black president of South Africa Lennox Lewis won the heavyweight title.  the Schindler’s List would dominate the Oscars in at least five different categories, and the New York Rangers ended a more than half-a-century Stanley Cup title drought. Those are just some of the many highlights of the year.

The summer of 1994 saw the release of Forrest Gump which would find its way into becoming a classic in American cinema. The movie is based on a novel written by Winston Groom of the same name.

The movie tells the story of Forrest Gump from Greenbow, Alabama who lives through many historic events in American history. It shows his loyalty to his mother and his faith. He even showed us how he persevered in hard times, his forgiving love towards Jenny, and his childlike faith.

Loyalty to His Mother

Forrest Gump is shown in the film to have some type of delayed development as he was shown to not have the needed IQ to be attending school. He is being raised by his mother who was his advocate. He wanted his son to get the same opportunity as everyone else. The two formed a bond that could never be matched. We are reminded to honor our mother. Forrest did just that by staying by her side as she did the same until her death.

He would often share some of her wisdom with strangers and how she loved him unconditionally.

Faith in Hard Times

Life was not perfect for Forrest. What helped him was his simple faith. It has gotten him through some of the most challenging times of his life. Whether it was a combat tour in Vietnam, surviving a hurricane, or trying to succeed in the shrimp business, Forrest turned his attention to God.

He did this by placing his trust in Jesus with a childlike faith. Christ reminds us in the Gospel of Matthew, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:3).

Unconditional Love for Jenny

The film does share a love story. Since he was a boy, he was best friends with a girl named Jenny. Now, there were times when they came close to developing a romantic relationship, but Jenny never was on the same page. She would wind up going off on adventures. He was even there for her despite her telling him to not rescue her all the time.

Before he went on a long run around the country, they had a tumultuous romance that would result in having a child out of wedlock. When Forrest learns of Jenny becoming sick with a disease, Forrest opens his door for her and decides that they’ll get married.

Like his loyalty to his mother, Forrest was loyal to Jenny. He even remarked that they were like, “peas and carrots”.

The one scene where Forrest talks to Jenny after her death. He was stricken by grief. He saw her as a special friend.

C.S. Lewis wrote, "To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you." Forrest could’ve told Jenny off, yet he chose to do what Christ would do. He showed us what forgiveness entailed.

What Forrest teaches us is that we must have faith like a child, be willing to forgive those who have hurt us, always be loyal to our parents, and always trust in God.