The world is full of pain and hurt. We can experience wounds in our hearts in many different ways. Often, these wounds can come from the words of those that we love or those that we respect.
But we often remain within that pain and the wounds that have been inflicted upon us. God calls us to forgive others because, through Jesus, if we trust in him, we also can be forgiven.
Jesus’s disciple Peter once asked how many times he must forgive someone who has wronged them. 7 times? No, Jesus said, 77 times.
Jesus wasn’t actually putting a number on the number of times that we must forgive someone. Instead, he was teaching Peter, and all of us, that we have been forgiven from so much that we have done wrong that we must forgive others. Here is the story that Jesus told:
Click to read the story – Matthew 18:21-35
Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”
Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.
“Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.
“At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.
“But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.
“His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’
“But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.
“Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
“This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”
Are you hurting from a time that someone hurt you? Did they do something wrong to you? Did they say something hurtful to you?
If you want to be free, you must be willing to forgive them and reconcile your relationship with them. This is the only way that you can be free. Start today!
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