Thoughts for another day

June 8, 2006

Today's verse: Mt 18:21,22. Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven. (KJV).

In most of us, hurt, bitterness and unmet expectation from friends, relatives and associates is the root cause of un-forgiveness. Sometimes, it takes such major dimensions that a great hatred starts developing within us and very subtly takes a sinister form and literally eats us from inside.

My friend in Christ, let not un-forgiveness find root in your heart. It will block the Grace of God from you hindering the blessings that are to flow unto you. God works on the theme of forgiveness. Look at it this way: He is constantly aware of what we are doing or not doing. And He knows every sin we commit. And every sin is an offence directed at Him. Despite this, when we sit down to pray, He is immediately found by us and He holds us in His hands and grants us refreshment. But if we harbor un-forgiveness, He can do nothing in our lives for we go against the principle of His nature and our communing with Him becomes literally impossible.

Jesus had no two ways of looking at forgiveness. He forgave – even at the point of death. And He expects you to forgive. That is why even the prayer He taught has the point of ‘forgive us as we forgive those who sin against us.’ In the parable of the unforgiving servant, He makes the point abundantly clear that God will treat those who don’t forgive, harshly! And in today’s verse, Jesus advocates infinite forgiveness. So forgive, for you never know, you too may need to be forgiven and you can’t expect it, unless you do first.