Tag: generous grace
Day 4–Courage to Keep Forgiving
Scripture reading for February 26: Matthew 18:21-22 “Then Peter came up and said to Him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.”
A central teaching of Jesus Christ concerned forgiveness of sins. Man’s greatest need is forgiveness of sins and Jesus Christ’s primary message of the Good News was that through Him, sin could be forgiven. Jesus’ disciples struggled to understand forgiveness. Part of their religious training concerned equal retribution for offences. If someone poked out your eye, you could get even and poke out his eye. Jesus instead taught that if we expected God to forgive us our sins, we must forgive others their sins against us. All vengeance belonged to God, since only He knows all about each person and He alone can judge justly.
Peter, a disciple of Jesus, asked Jesus about how many times he should forgive someone who sinned against him. He suggested that seven times might be a generous number. But Jesus responded with something much greater–“seventy-seven times.” Some translations say ‘seventy times seven.’ The whole point is that forgiveness is the proper decision towards those who have offended you or did you wrong.
As first responders, we must work with others on most of our calls. There are always those who offend. These may be fellow responders or even the people that we were called to help. We should never keep score in order to get even or to repay in kind. Jesus’ gave us the ultimate demonstration of forgiveness when from the cross He cried, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34) This prayer was directed to those who had crucified Him and falsely accused Him. He laid down His life that all might receive forgiveness and demonstrated God’s generous grace.
Prayer: Father God, like Peter, I sometimes count how many times I have forgiven and think I have been generous. Forgive me and teach me how to have the courage to forgive others every time I am offended or wronged. I trust You to have mercy on them and me. Amen.