Jesus answered, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times. Matthew 18:22
Forgiveness - this is and will always be a challenge. How can I forgive the one who hurts me when I have, in good conscience, done nothing to deserve such condemnation? What do I do when someone refuses to allow reason or mercy in to mend the breach? What if I have not done anything wrong at all?
I still have to keep forgiving the person who even today adamantly refuses reconciliation. In concrete terms it means letting go of my ego and emotions and arriving at a decision to disallow any of his or her mud of bitter anger stick onto me. It isn’t easy, but with the grace of the Spirit it can be done. Hasn’t the Lord shown us how it is done, taking our hurtful sins on the cross with Him, allowing them to crucify Him? Hasn’t the Father shown us by sacrificing His son so that we may be redeemed by this supreme act of love?
If we have received mercy and compassion, we, too, must give mercy and compassion. Do not be like the servant who was forgiven his huge debt by the king but decided to be merciless to a fellow servant who owed him a small sum. He was judged with mercy but he judged with justice, forgetting the mercy he had just received, and this led to a sorry end for him. So forgive again and again, and you will be forgiven with as much, if not more kindness that you show others.
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