Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?" Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times."Matthew 18:21-22
We've relegated the letter F to the trash heap of society. This past week a hateful email containing that f-word to a nominated member of parliament on her parliamentary speech against repealing 377A brought about quite a stir. When we hear "the f-word" we think of a very offensive word that society has manufactured. But God has another f-word—the real sanctified f-word—that we all need to think about; forgiveness.
There are going to be times in life when people will hurt us so badly that we don't even want to think about forgiving them. But when we choose not to forgive, we are choosing to be attached to a bunch of anger, resentment, and hurt that will only weigh us down.
A lot of people read a verse like the one above and think, "I'm not going to let anybody get away with hurting me 77 times!" But Jesus was not being literal in his math. He was simply telling Peter how ridiculous to count how many times he forgave people. Forgiveness is designed to be immeasurable.
Christ wants us to experience the most out of life. And the person who is experiencing the most out of life doesn't allow themselves to be weighed down by the junk of unforgiveness. Don't hold yourself back from experiencing life just because someone hurt you. Instead, ask God to help you experience the power of forgiveness.
When forgiveness increases in your soul, anger slowly but surely evaporates.
A Prayer for Today
Lord, true forgiveness can only begin with you. Free my heart from the weight of unforgiveness. I want to experience the life-changing power of forgiveness through your son, Jesus, so that I can share that forgiveness with others. In Jesus' name, Amen.
