Forgive

Forgiveness is a wonderful word but to actually put it in to practice, really takes some courage. Peter came to Jesus to ask him, how many times he has to forgive his brother. (this could have been a disagreement between the disciples or Peter and John). There is no clarity on this but there definitely was a situation or the question would not have been asked. I love Jesus’s reply. Peter was a business man so he would immediately do the maths.

70 x 7 = 490. Really? This must have just silenced Peter’s argument as there is no further question from Peter. Imagine that, 490 times, not an easy thing to do, do you agree?

When someone wrongs you, it’s not easy to forgive them as the pain of the wrong is pretty severe and causes harm or damage so it takes a while for you to recover. However the pain of unforgiveness brings more pain to you than the person you will not forgive. You have to harbour this unforgiveness in your heart which was never created to harbour such negative feelings. We are the temple of the Lord so God dwells in us. There is no room in our hearts for this unforgiveness. If we choose to keep holding on to this unforgiveness, we leave very little room in our hearts for God to work. If the unforgiveness is given root in our hearts, it takes over like a vine (or a creeping plant on a wall) and penetrates every area of our lives. Is it worth it? Forgive and move on.