“Then Peter came to Him and asked, ‘Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?’ ‘No, not seven times,’ Jesus replied, ‘but seventy times seven!’” (Matthew 18:21-22 NLT)
Without love there can be no forgiveness. To say we forgive and to forgive can be two very different things. It takes no courage, patience, or love to say words, but to embody those words and live them out can be impossible except we depend on the Holy Spirit’s infilling and enabling presence.
We cannot walk with Jesus in the power of our own might, that’s why He gave us His Spirit. If walking with Jesus was easy everyone would do it, but it’s costly and can be very hard at times. On some levels it gets no harder than when someone violates us in some way. Perhaps that’s why Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 13:4: “Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged.”
What if God kept a record of our wrongs? What if He held us accountable for our every wrong thought, wrong action, thoughtless comment, or unkind word? We cannot comprehend the limitless love of God made available to us through the Savior’s death on the Cross.
How can we not forgive someone when Jesus forgave the ones who nailed Him to the Cross? Who are we to believe we can somehow bypass the clear instruction of our Savior to forgive others as we have been forgiven (Matthew 6:12). But just in case we do forget, He reminds of the consequences of our unwillingness to forgive in Mark 11:26.
Augustine gives us wise counsel when he writes: “If you are suffering from a bad man’s injustice, forgive him lest there be two bad men.” When we get unhappy because of the number of times we must forgive another, “Lord, help us remember the numbers of times You’ve forgiven us.” The Lord never asks of us anything He hasn’t modeled for us in His own life.
Our posture as a believer should always be one of meekness, which is not weakness, but power under the control or our Master. Being kind to someone who has hurt us isn’t weakness, it’s strength; it doesn’t show cowardice, but valor. The love of the New Testament, the love Jesus put on display when He humbled Himself, became a man, and laid down His life for us is the love that means: “to feel and exhibit esteem and goodwill to a person, to prize and delight in a thing.”
Love isn’t about emotion, it’s about action. It’s about doing the right thing, at the right time, in the right way, for the right reason. It’s not about getting our own way or winning but humbly positioning ourselves to allow the light of Jesus’ life and love to radiate in and through us. To not set aside our desire for revenge or to hurt someone because we’ve been hurt is from Satan, not Jesus.
The first time I saw the man who had replaced me as my wife’s husband, interacting with my kids playfully and they enjoying his presence, it hurt me, but there was a side of me that realized that on many levels it was my own fault. Of what value would it be to be angry with him at the risk of further alienating my kids?
Revenge is drinking poison and expecting another person to die. It’s self-defeating and self-destructive. God’s way is best, the way of His limitless love and forgiveness.
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 