Forgive Your Neighbor. Matthew 18:21-35When a person comes to the Father through faith in the Son, all is forgiven! Not just our weaknesses and failures, but the gross, enormous, crimson red sins that we commit. He forgives them all — original, actual, life, lip, heart, omission and commission, are all washed away in the precious blood of Jesus!Unless humility and honesty result in forgiveness, relationships cannot be mended and strengthened. Peter recognized the risks involved and asked Jesus how he should handle them in the future.But Peter made some serious mistakes. To begin with, he lacked humility himself. He was sure his brother would sin against him, but not he against his brother! Peter's second mistake was in asking for limits and measures. Where there is love, there can be no limits or dimensions.Peter thought he was showing great faith and love when he offered to forgive at least seven times. After all, the rabbis taught that three times was sufficient.Our Lord's reply, "Until seventy times seven" (490 times) must have startled Peter. Who could keep count for that many offenses? But that was exactly the point Jesus was making: Love "keeps no record of wrongs". By the time we have forgiven a brother that many times, we are in the habit of forgiving. When our hearts are humble and repentant, we will gladly forgive our brothers. But where there is pride and a desire for revenge, there can be no true repentance; and this means God cannot forgive.In other words, it is not enough to receive God's forgiveness, or even the forgiveness of others. We must experience that forgiveness in our hearts so that it humbles us and makes us gentle and forgiving toward others. |
#42 - Top Played Video (48-Hours) week of 12/28/2022
