Lord,
How
Often
Should
I Forgive Someone
Scripture
Matthew
18
21 Then
Peter came to him and asked, “Lord, how often should I forgive
someone who sins against me? Seven times?”
Observation
Forgiveness
– all of us, if we are honest, have a hard time with this thing
called “forgiveness”. I hear Christians, who have been deeply
hurt, struggling with forgiveness.
I
hear them trying to put qualifiers on their forgiveness like: I
forgive him or I forgive her but I will never have anything to do
with that person again, or I forgive him or her but I don't have to
be reconciled with them!
Forgiveness,
like love, are two big issues for us. Both of these two things are
choices that we must make. And I might add they are not optional for
a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. We must love. We must forgive.
I
might add that just as both of these are choices that we make, they
are also gifts that we must give.
Forgiveness
is a gift. You must give it as a gift. And you must receive
forgiveness from someone else also as a gift.
When
we refuse to love someone and when we refuse to forgive someone or
refuse to be reconciled with someone – we are the ones who suffer!
Matthew
6:15
But
if you refuse to forgive others,
your Father will not forgive your
sins.
Matthew
5:23-24
23 “So
if you are presenting a sacrifice at the altar in the Temple and
you suddenly remember that someone has something against
you, 24 leave
your sacrifice there at the altar. Go and be reconciled to that
person. Then come and offer your sacrifice to God.
1
Corinthians 13:4-5,7
4 Love is
patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or
rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it
keeps no record of being wronged. 7 Love
never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures
through every circumstance.
Application
I
will forgive quickly and often.
How
about you?
Prayer
Heavenly
Father, help me to always forgive quickly and often. Don't let me
hold a grudge. Don't let me hold back my love for someone. Give me
Your heart.
I
pray for those who are struggling and can't seem to truly forgive.
They want to hold on to the hurt. Help them to let it go. Help them
to reach out to the one who has hurt them and help them make an
attempt to reconcile.
Daily
Bible Reading: 1 Chronicles 14,15; Psalm 132; Matthew 18
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