I lost a close friend a while back.  He didn’t die, but our relationship did. We were childhood friends and reconnected as we grew older.  He had changed. A lot.  I remembered him being funny, considerate and protective of me.  He was like the older brother I never had. When I ran into him again, years later, he had become surly.  He complained all the time.  He was, well…mean. I didn’t like the change in him. I must admit, I really didn’t like being around him.  My heart was broken. How could he have become such a difficult person?  What happened to him? And, why was it so hard for me to love him?

Jesus was posed a simple but powerful question by Peter, “How many times must we forgive?”
Sounds simple enough. But Peter, like each of us perhaps, was a little taken aback by Jesus’ answer, “Seventy times seven.”

Well, if you’re like me, you probably did the math. Seven times seventy is 490.  Forgive someone 490 times.  What if they do 491 things to me?  I know, I sound like Peter now.  Jesus’ point was that we are to forgive others always. No matter how many times they offend us, if they ask for forgiveness, we are to forgive them.
Why?
Good question.
Simple answer: our own forgiveness stands in the balance.
Here is how it works:

God forgave us, because of His Son’s sacrifice…and we had done some pretty terrible things.
We forgive others, even when they do some pretty terrible things.
If we don’t forgive others, we make a mockery of the act of God’s forgiveness towards us and we offend Him.  The scripture verse in red letters (Jesus’ words) that proves this says:

For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:
But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. (Matthew 6: 14, 15 KJV)

Pretty plain, right? No mystery here.
Forgive as you have been forgiven…as often as it takes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As for my old friend…he’s still mean, cranky, and hard to like.  But I still love him and I forgive him.
He’s had a hard life, a boat-load of medical problems, and a bad marriage.  I can’t change any of that for him, but I can listen to him, pray for him and ask God’s wisdom in what I should say to him when we talk.

It may not sound like much, but for every cross word my friend speaks, I speak life back to him.  And that’s what forgiveness is all about.  Letting go of the offence and speaking life.

Jesus went to the cross to take our punishment for the sins we committed.  I wouldn’t want to count mine, but I’m sure they may well exceed 490.
I owe Jesus everything…and His only requirement of me is that I love Him more than any other, and others as I love myself.
To offer forgiveness to others is another way to love them.  It is a small price to pay for having received so much.

Until next post…
Blessings.
vw1