"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. Matthew 18:21-22
Along life’s journey, we are bound to encounter bumps and bruises from interacting with others. Unfortunately, some offenses will be intentional, while others will be committed unconsciously. Regardless of the motive, as children of God. We must choose to forgive. Even if the offense is ongoing and excessive, the option is never to hold a grudge or bitterly rehearse the trespasses inflicted by others. The choice is based on the fact that, like our offenders, we have wounded someone. If your testimony is that I have never offended anyone, Romans 13:23 teaches that we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Every human that have lived has sinned except Jesus Christ. Sin is an offense against God (Psalm 51:4). Since we are all guilty of offenses on some level, we all need to be forgiven. The awareness of the need to be forgiven ought to drive one to be forgiving. It is not just extended when it’s easy but even more so when it’s hard to do so.
The act of forgiving keeps the toxic thoughts from dominating and cultivating a field of bitterness. Bitterness, the primary emotion when we choose not to forgive, always destroys the host and has little effect on the one who caused it. The choice to mimic God’s forgiveness frees us from further hurting ourselves because of offenses. We can never have enough of God’s compassion and goodness. He has more than enough to address any issue or problem we’ll face.
There is no way to determine the volume of forgiveness we will need during our lifetime. However, we do know that God measures His forgiveness toward us in the same way we forgive others. Therefore, our practice concerning forgiveness should be to give it generously and extravagantly. As much as we desire forgiveness, we ought to give. It is God who holds our time and seasons in His hand. Let’s trust Him to be faithful in taking care of our offenses while we choose to continuously engage in God’s cycle of forgiveness.
Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassion fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.”
Lamentations 3:22-23
“God help us choose your way to take the sting out of offenses by choosing to forgive.”_ASA
Chronicles of ASA 