Peter came up and said to Jesus, “Lord, when my brother sins against me, how often will I have to forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “No, not seven times, but seventy times seven.” Matt. 18:21-22
Lord Jesus, yesterday afternoon, while the college football team I wanted to win was losing, I came across this quote by Henri Nouwen, “Forgiveness is the name of love practiced among people who love poorly. The hard truth is that ALL people love poorly. We need to forgive and be forgiven every day. That is the great work of love among the fellowship of the weak—that is, the human family.”
It had nothing to do with the football game I was watching, but it does have everything to do with the rest of my life—starting with my heart-orientation for 2024. We are to forgive others as you’ve forgiven us, Jesus—period (.), end of sentence. It’s that simple, messy, daily, and as costly.
The Gospel doesn’t call us to be floor mats others get to wipe their feet on, as they proceed to walk all over us. No… our calling is more costly than that. We are to be grace-portals through which repeat offenders (family members, friends, strangers—even enemies) are invited into a realm, a dominion, a province most of us know little about.
Abba calls it “the kingdom of His beloved Son”—which is now our permanent address (Col.1:13). The only way we got citizenship there was because Abba rescued us from “the dominion of darkness” and hid our lives in you, Jesus. The oxygen we now breath is a rich mixture of total forgiveness, unwavering belovedness, and inexhaustible kindness. Thank you, and help us, Jesus. We despair of giving 7-times-70 forgiveness, or 7-fold-forgiveness—or in some situations, even one-off-forgiveness if you didn’t promise to finance this costly way of life. The only thing that will cost us more is unforgiveness, resentment, and revenge—whose price tag is incalculable. So Very Amen.