A lifestyle of forgiveness.

Is that really what Jesus expects of you and me? Peter asks, “How often should I forgive my brother when he sins against me?“

And then he is feeling pretty good about himself – pretty magnanimous – when he says “up to seven times?“

How does Jesus answer? “7×70!”

How is that possible? Jesus explains it to us in the “parable of the unmerciful servant.” You recall that he is the one who has been forgiven much, but who refuses to forgive someone who owes much less. The unmerciful servant demands the condemnation of his debtor. And what happens to him? In fact, he is condemned for his merciless heart.

Jesus makes it clear: Who is the big debtor in the parable? I am. You are. And Jesus, the one who tells the parable, is going to the terrible cross to make payment for our sins. Yours and mine. He is going to forgive us. It’s unmistakable in this parable. You and I are represented by the “big debtor.” Then he drives home the point: If we are forgiven much, then how often should we forgive others? Seven times? Oh. It’s much more than that.

We who have experienced the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ are to have a lifestyle of forgiveness. We love because he first loved us. We are patient with others because he is long-suffering with us. And we forgive others because he has forgiven us.

Is this your lifestyle?

The Bible says, “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you.”

It is a miracle when people forgive each other for great and small sins. The Church members in Charleston, South Carolina shocked the world when they expressed forgiveness to the murderer Dylan Root. Corrie Ten Boom amazed the world when she spoke of forgiving the Nazi who met her after a church service years after he dehumanized her and her sister in the concentration camp.

I don’t know. God may call you to forgive like that. But I do know he will call you to forgive your wife 70×7 times. He will call you to forgive your husband 70×7 times. He will call you to forgive your pastor 70×7 times. He will call you to forgive your children 70×7 times. This is where we live, in messy human relationships.

You and I need Him to do this miracle in our hearts. Not once, but 70×7 times.

He Who has forgiven the big debtors like you and me, will manifest the grace of forgiveness to us, and then through us.

That is his way. I, for one, am humbled and grateful. What about you?

Musings from Pastor John, August 9 , Click to Email Pastor John