Forgiveness...Forgive...Forgiving

Good Morning,

Matthew 18:21-22 (NKJV)
Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.
Colossians 3:12-13 (NIV)
Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

Forgiveness. Forgive. Forgiving.

I think that these may be among the most difficult words and concepts that we, as Christians, must deal with, comprehend, and put actively into use in our lives. However, the Bible is clear...very, very clear...about forgiving and what our responsibilities are concerning forgiveness.

Jesus was clear, I think, when He told Peter that he should forgive "up to seventy times seven" times when something happened that needed forgiving. You see, what Jesus said was that there really is NO limit on forgiving or on forgiveness. I believe that we all agree Jesus was being a bit metaphorical with the "seventy times seven" words He used. Then we read, for even fuller explanation about "forgive" in Paul's letter to the Colossians when he wrote, "...forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another." And the most important part of this whole forgiving concept is what followed..."Forgive as the Lord forgave you."

Now, I've got to be honest here. I don't know if I can forgive someone 490 times when that someone does stuff that needs forgiving. Do you? Four hundred ninety being seventy times seven, of course. How in the world does that happen? Who is it that can be that forgiving? Well, God can...thankfully! Think about how many "forgivings" that have been necessary in your life. I can only wish it were ONLY 490 time that God needed to forgive me for things I've done. If it were only that small a number I'd consider myself a much, much better man. But, we all know that God has had to forgive each of us many more than 490 times for the sins we've committed in our lives.

The challenge here is how to put this forgiving thing to work in our lives. I wish that there was some simple one, two, three kind of formula to give which would make it easy to do. Unfortunately, there isn't. I think that the best way to even start to understand and put to use "forgiving" and "forgiveness" is to forgive those small things that don't amount to much in the grand scheme of things. Like, for instance, why don't we start with drivers on the streets that tend to anger us? So, when someone cuts us off or squeezes in front of us where he or she had no business being, let's just say a short prayer of forgiveness. Easy enough, right? If we can begin with this sort of very tiny thing, then maybe we can graduate up to forgiving the more serious wrongs that are done against us. Is this a perfect plan? No, of course not! The PERFECT plan would be for us to simply forgive as God has forgiven us. But then, we aren't perfect, are we? We are human beings with human foibles and faults. We need to begin to SENSE what forgiveness feels like in our lives. We have to have that marvelously freeing awareness in our minds and hearts that comes along with truly forgiving. For some of us, well, we've never had that kind of emotion...being freed by forgiving.

Forgiveness. Forgive. Forgiving.

I would pray that all of us go the Lord in prayer for Him to send the Holy Spirit into us and help us to begin to understand and put to use this concept in our daily lives. Not just a good idea...the RIGHT idea!

Love, peace, and blessings,

David