Don’t Keep Score When Forgiving Others
Sunday’s Verse:
From Matthew 18:22 NIV
Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.”
Peter was being generous when he asked Jesus whether seven times was sufficient for forgiving others. Jesus’ response must have sounded next to impossible: seventy-seven times.
Jesus is not giving Peter some mathematical equation when it comes to forgiveness. What Jesus is saying is that forgiveness is not something we keep score of. We never get to mark offenses on our fingers and finally say, “That’s it! You’ve used up all of your chances.”
And yet, forgiveness can be hard.
When someone sins against us, our natural reaction is to remember. We replay their words over and over in our minds. We remember what they did. We think of all the things we should have said in return. Oftentimes the hurt is so deep that we struggle to ever forgive at all.
But take notice of what Jesus commands here. He’s not telling us to act like the hurt didn’t happen. To genuinely forgive someone as a Christian is not to say that evil doesn’t hurt or that sin doesn’t matter. To forgive someone is to refuse to let that person’s sin be the final voice we hear over our hearts.
Why are we able to forgive? Because we’ve already been forgiven.
Whenever we struggle to forgive, we can look to the cross and remember the unimaginable mercy of Christ. He bore our sins and gave Himself up for us on that tree. We don’t forgive others because they deserve it. We forgive others because Christ has forgiven us.
Sometimes forgiveness is instant. Other times it will take time. We may need to bring the same offense to the Lord a dozen times before we feel genuine forgiveness in our heart. Each time we do, we can simply pray, “Lord, help me let this go into Your hands.”
We may never forget what they’ve done. But by His grace we don’t have to carry it forever.
✝️ A Prayer for Today
Heavenly Father, thank You for forgiving me far more than I could ever repay. Give me a heart that is willing to forgive others as You have forgiven me. I pray, in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Apostles’ Creed:
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven; give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.
Luther’s Morning Prayer:
I thank You, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have kept me this night from all harm and danger; and I pray that You would keep me this day also from sin and every evil, that all my doings and life may please You. For into Your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen.
The photo above was licensed through Unsplash+