Forgiveness

"Lord, how many times should I extend forgiveness? Is seven times enough?" Jesus answered, "Not seven times, but seventy-seven times. If you do not forgive others of their sins, your Heavenly Father will not forgive your sins."

Christ's love for us is unmerited. We don't deserve it, yet He gives it to us unconditionally. And the unmerited love Christ gives us goes hand-in-hand with a whole lot of unmerited, unconditional forgiveness as well. Extending forgiveness towards others is difficult. Our pride gets in the way. We want to protect ourselves. We want to maintain control. We let fear consume us. We worry that forgiving others will open ourselves up to the potential to be hurt again. And sometimes, forgiving others feels like we have to forget too. And we don't want to forget, do we? Yet, there it is, plain as day... If we do not forgive others, He will not forgive us. Man, those words are hard to swallow!

Believe me, I've searched. And I can't seem to find anything, anywhere in the Bible that says, "Do not forgive others. Protect yourself. Take revenge and hurt them back." The two greatest commandments in this life are to love Christ with all your heart, mind, body and soul, and to love others as Christ loves us. Love Christ, and love others. Love others, as Christ loves us. Unconditionally...

You know what happens when we forgive others? Perhaps the greatest irony of forgiving others is that it not only releases the other person of their sin, it releases us as well. It opens us up to all of the love and forgiveness that Christ holds in store for us. It sets us free.

Heavenly Father, your name alone is holy. I trust you to take care of my needs. Forgive me, for no one is without sin. Help me to forgive others. Do not let my heart be consumed with temptation. Keep me from evil. Amen