Tuesday 22 Mar 2022

March 22: Matthew 18:21-22

Key Verse: Matthew 18:21
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?’

Devotion:
Do you take what your friends tell you as the absolute truth and do exactly what they say you should be doing? No, I don’t think any of us do; but that does not mean we don’t trust our friends or we don’t obey them… When Jesus was talking to Peter, He made a point of telling Peter to forgive many more times than he expected from Him. If Peter had taken that literally, he would have gone around telling people about this new measurement of mercy.

If Peter had done that he would be teaching others mercy can be measured and everyone would have been sidetracked into doing things in earthly ways instead of showing true mercy and forgiveness! Jesus does not want us to keep a measure of how many times we are willing to forgive. He does not want us to measure it at all because that would not be showing people love!

Jesus’ instruction was to show Peter there should not be a measure to love by; love should be a commitment to live with and forgive. The love I am talking about here is not the love two people have for each other in a relationship, but the love Jesus wants us to show everyone. If we try to measure the love, we are not focusing on the love but the measure of what we are calling love.

I do find it hard to stop showing people love nowadays because I experienced a whole new level of love when I was in hospital: the love the doctors and nurses had for me in trying to get me better. Yes it was their job to care for me, but in doing so they often went further than the requirements to try and give me hope and something to aim for in the future. This is the love we should be sharing with each other!

Points to Ponder:
Do you try to compare your love with others?

Will you break down the barriers and love without measure?