March 5: Matthew 18:21-22
Key Verse: Matthew 18:22
Jesus answered, ‘I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.
Devotion:
One of the things we find hardest to do in our lives is to forgive people when they have done something wrong – especially if we think they have done said wrong on purpose! Our simple minds cannot see the good in people when all we see is wrongs. Our hearts are broken by people doing wrongs to us and it takes a lot of rights before we can fix those broken hearts!
When Peter came to Jesus to ask about forgiveness, I think he expected Jesus to give him a simple answer so he could put that into effect. What Jesus did was to give him an answer He knew would not be easy to attain. How can we keep on forgiving people over and over again when they continue to repeat bad things against us?
Jesus wants us to look past the human element and to think of things in a way similar to how He loves us and how God feels about us. Jesus wants us to be able to overcome all hatred and to overcome those personal feelings we carry around long after the fact. He wants us to be able to forgive just as He is forgiving every sin we ever do in our lives…
But it does mean we should be willing to bring those sins to Christ in the first place. We should be willing to go out and ask people for forgiveness too, just as they ask it of us. If we are then willing to take s step toward reconciliation, He will show us just how big a step He is willing to take to show us mercy beyond our thoughts!
Points to Ponder:
Do you want people to forgive you?
Are you willing to forgive others?