Forgive

How many times must you forgive? Well according to Jesus in Matthew 18:22 not seven but seventy times seven. So what does that mean? Well Jesus was not giving an exact number; he was giving a number so large for us to understand that forgiveness should never end. The Oxford English Dictionary defines forgiveness as ‘to grant free pardon and to give up all claim on account of an offense or debt’. So Jesus told us to give up all claim on account of an offense or debt indefinitely. How do we do this though? Well I believe it starts by loving the person that we must forgive. As Christians we are called to love others, that means everyone, not just the ones we want to love. According to 1 Corinthians 13:5 love keeps no record of wrongs.

This does not mean it is always going to be easy to forgive a person who as done something against us. But as Christians we are called to do it. What right do we have to with hold forgiveness from someone when God has offered it so freely to us? I know this is easier to say than it is to actually do it, but we still have an obligation to do it. I know I have found it hard to do in the past. There have even been times when you want to take back that forgiveness because they keep doing things to you. But the moment you forgive, you wipe clean, you keep no record of it. If you do not plan on wiping it clean, then don’t say you forgive, because true forgiveness means you will never hold it against that person. I am learning this the hard way right now. I have had to forgive, and wipe clean, then have something else happen that starts the process all over again. Makes it harder to forgive the next time. I want to look more like Christ everyday though. I want my life to reflect what I believe. I will continue to forgive, and wipe clean, even when it’s hard, even when I don’t want to, and even when I don’t think I can. Because the reality is that I can’t, but God can. When Jesus hung on the cross he took on the sins of the entire world. That thing that hurts me, killed Him. And he paid the price for that sin. So how can I ask another person to pay for something that Christ already died for? The blood of Christ took care of everything, so I will rest in that truth.

I will always choose to love, and to forgive. I will always choose grace. 1 Corinthians 13:13 “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”