Wesley United Methodist Church, Orange TX

 A sunset like this brings peace to my soul.  Scenes like this remind me of the wonderful God Creator and His Peace filled Spirit.

Is forgiveness a word in your vocabulary?  It is a word in Matthew 18:21-35.  Peter thinks that he has gone well beyond what Rabbinic law calls for when he tells Jesus he should forgive a whole whopping 7  times.  Rabbinic law says that you should forgive 3 times but not the fourth.  Jesus’ response is Seventy Seven times or Seven times Seventy depending on the translation you are reading.  Jesus then tells us about the king who forgives the debt of his servant.   A debt that is of such large size that it is not possible for any one man to amass.  When the king finds out that his servant would not forgive a very minor debt from someone else he has his servant arrested and thrown into prison to be tortured until repays that exorbitant debt.

This parable leaves no doubt that Jesus teaches us to forgive those who sin against us.  We also see it in “The Lord’s Prayer”, you know the part about forgive me as I have forgiven those who sin against me.  The life we lead has to be one of forgiveness.  A forgiveness led life is a life that gives a very positive witness by not being bound up in hatred, prejudice, spite and vengeance.  These very negative emotions are against all that Jesus teaches us and are absolutely not a part of the love walk we are all supposed to be a part of in the world God has given us.

Does unforgiveness routinely block your witness?  Are there times when you actually say you hate someone?  Are there times when you just want to get even?  These are all results of unforgiveness and this is why Jesus speaks so often of forgiveness and loving your neighbor.

Forgiveness for some is easy and for others it is the hardest task we will ever be able to undertake.  It is just not a natural action but a supernatural action that we can only make happen because the Holy Spirit is alive and working within our hearts, giving us the spiritual growth that allows us to resist our instincts toward the negative feelings.  Keep strong in your faith, study your scripture and always know that forgiveness is the way of Jesus Christ.

Have a great day and be at peace with the world,

Randy

This entry was posted on September 12, 2011 at 10:40 pm and is filed under Pastor's Ponderings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.