Forgiveness

Matthew 18:21-22 ESV
“Then Peter came up and said to Him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.”

By Jesus saying we are to forgive those who sin against us seventy times seven, Jesus was not interested in a number of how many times that we must forgive our offender. Jesus was telling Peter we are to have forgiving hearts always, no matter how many times someone does us wrong.

Christians are only capable of this type of forgiving spirit because the Spirit of God that lives within us. God provides the ability to offer forgiveness over and over, just as God forgives us over and over.

Jesus said to pray to the Father; “Forgive us of our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” (Matthew 6:12) In other words, we are forgiven as we forgive others. It’s not as easy to forgive like the Father forgives, because He forgives and forgets.

For us, we forgive and how we forget is we do not rehearse the trespasser’s sins to them, or rerun their sins in our own minds over and over again. Forgiving may be relatively easy, forgetting is more difficult, but completely freeing of hurts and anger if we do.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, You washed my sins away at Calvary. I do not live under the guilt of sin any longer. In response to Your great love and grace for me, I choose to forgive those have hurt me and I bear that burden no more by forgetting. In Your Precious name Lord Jesus, Amen!