Seventy Times Seven

  When was the last time you had to make the choice to forgive someone who wronged you? Was it today, yesterday, last month? No matter the timeline I am certain that you have been faced a choice to forgive; maybe you are working through forgiveness at this very moment. As humans, we are not so quick to forgive those that hurt us; we are prideful and selfish by nature. Oftentimes when people hurt us, we are hit with the struggle of overcoming the feelings of betrayal and anger before we ever think of forgiveness. Have you ever forgiven someone but still hold onto the pain of the event? Does it cripple you to the ground? I suffered long ago with the ability to forgive and forget, I said I had moved on but deep down the feelings of anger and resentment flared up at the slightest mention of a memory associated with that pain. Overcoming the pain is never easy, but God's grace on us as his children IS much greater than our temporary discomfort.

"True forgiveness is not an action after the fact, it is an attitude with which you enter each moment." ~ David Ridge

  Forgiveness requires us to look deep within ourselves, our human nature is to look to the source of the discomfort or to the one by which we think can control it...God. We might think, "Why has God allowed this to happen?" Our heart cry is similar to that of the disciples in the boat that stormy night, as they swayed back and forth fearing for their lives, but Jesus awoke and commanded the seas to be still and they did. At this very moment, the disciples were questioned about their fear and faith in the Lord...even as disciples, these men were not fully aware of the grace of God. As they watched Jesus teach the Word of God, it was the 'in-your-face' testimony that made them fully aware of what God could do. 

"A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, "Teacher, don't you care if we drown?" (Mark 4:37-38)

  Choosing forgiveness is always better than harboring the resentment through unforgiveness. Not only do you free yourself from feelings of anger, anxiety and stress but you allow yourself to move on to bigger and better things! God's Word is simple when it comes to forgiveness, if you give it, you shall receive it. Withhold it and ... well, it won't be extended to you. Have you ever been faced with the choice to forgive the same person more than once? Maybe you have a family member or friend who continues to make withdrawals from your forgiveness bank. In those times, it sure does make it harder to muster up that willingness to accept their apology time and time again. There's an old saying that forgiveness is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die from it. So what do you do in this situation? In Matthew 18, Peter asks Jesus "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?" Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times." (Matthew 18:21-22) By this Jesus is telling us that there is NO limit to the forgiveness we should give to those that do wrong, because there is NO limit to the forgiveness He extends to us.

  Oftentimes, we are unable to forgive others because we cannot forgive ourselves. If you're anything like me, you are your hardest critic..right?! Living with ourselves 24/7 makes it very hard for us to get out of our own way. No matter what the reason, we must forgive ourselves of our choices, our failures, our sin to which we suffer because our transgressions have been removed by God! Scripture says "I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more." (Isaiah 43:25) Our sin is "eternally" removed through the Word of God, but it's not whether God has let go..but whether we have. You see when we lay our sins at the foot of the cross, we are cleansed of all unrighteousness ~ our sin is covered in the blood of Christ Jesus and it cannot be touched EVER AGAIN! Hebrews 10:17 says 'Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.'

'Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! (2 Corinthians 5:17)

'The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him' (Daniel 9:9)

  In order for us to truly forgive those that wrong us, we must understand God's forgiveness for ourselves; after all, you cannot give away something you do not have. You must receive God's forgiveness before you can genuinely offer forgiveness. Like I said, it is not in our nature to forgive - we are selfish people. Forgiveness is supernatural, given to us through the Holy Spirit. "Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Forgive as the Lord forgave you." (Colossians 3:12-13)

  We are quicker to think irrationally, in our flesh, by way of vengeance or dealing with the issue on our own. There is nothing more excruciating than forgiving someone that has deeply wounded us, but Jesus understands! In fact, the word excruciating is derived from the Latin word excrucia meaning 'off the cross'. As Jesus was hanging on the cross, the only way that he could take a breath of air was to thrust his body 'off the cross' by pushing up on his impaled feet to quickly take a breath of air. Imagine the excruciating pain that was involved in just this simple act of taking a breath, every time Jesus wanted to breathe or speak he was required to endure this unimaginable pain yet he did so as he spoke those last words on the cross. Even in his pain, Christ had love and mercy for those that had wronged him, as he pleaded to God, "Father forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing." (Luke 23:34)

I ask you, if you are struggling with forgiveness for your own self or someone close to you, what can you do to move through forgiveness to glorify God? How can you react in the Spirit, rather than the flesh? "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full (John 10:10)