Scripture: "Even if they sin against you seven times in a
day and seven times come back to you saying 'I repent,' you must forgive
them.”
( Luke 17:4 ).
When our daughter was born five years ago, I became very ill with an
infection that almost killed me. One doctor didn’t believe that I was
having problems and mocked me. He rudely sent us home without bothering
to find out what was wrong. So two days later, I was back in the
hospital, screaming, with the most intense pain of my life. It took
them another 12 hours to find out what was going on. This event led to
other health complications. Needless to say, my family and I have had
to work hard to forgive that doctor.
Forgive Others
Jesus taught us to pray, “forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us” ( Matthew 6:12 ).
So we know that God will forgive us when we forgive others. But it
has been a struggle to follow the advice of Apostle Paul, in this
situation, to “Get rid of all bitterness, rage, [and] anger”(Ephesians 4:31 ).
In fact, sometimes when we remember the situation, we become so upset
about it that we have to forgive the doctor all over again! But we will
forgive as often as we have to. Jesus taught, “If you forgive anyone’s
sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not
forgiven” (John 20:23), and we don’t want a lack of forgiveness hanging over our lives.
Imitate Christ
Genuine forgiveness is hard. It involves sacrifice on the part of
those who have been wronged. But St. Paul instructed us, "Imitate God
in everything you do" (Ephesians 5:1), and our Lord "poured out [His blood] as a sacrifice to forgive the sins of many" (Matthew 26:28).
If we are going to be like Jesus Christ, we must be willing to
sacrifice and forgive – many, many times, if necessary. When we walk in
His footsteps, others can learn that the Lord is "so good, so ready to
forgive, so full of unfailing love" (Psalm 86:5).
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