#DailyDevotion You Want Me To Do What?
Matt. 18:21-35 21Then Peter came to Jesus and asked Him, “Lord, how often do I have to forgive my brother who sins against me? Seven times?” 22“I tell you,” Jesus answered him, “not seven times but seventy times seven times.
While I’m certain it surprised the disciples that Jesus told them they have to forgive someone seventy time seven times but I should not surprise you. Jesus became man that we might be restored to the image and likeness of God. The LORD says in Lev. 11:45, “And so you should be holy because I am holy.” Jesus says in Matt. 5:48, “So be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect.” Again Jesus says in Luke 6:36, “Be merciful as your Father is merciful.” Jesus is not content to save us from our sins. He intends to transform us by his grace and be conformed to his image and name. That name he reveals in Ex. 34:6, ““the LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, slow to get angry, rich in love and faithfulness, 7continuing to show mercy to thousands, forgiving wrong, rebellion, and sin, without treating it as innocent, but disciplining children and children’s children to the third and fourth generation for the sins of their fathers.”
To be holy, perfect and merciful is to forgive sin and live out the LORD’s name in our life. The LORD is this way with us. How many times a day do you sin against the LORD? How many times do we commit the same sin on the same day? How many times a day do we ask the LORD for forgiveness and mercy or at least we should? Perhaps more than seventy times seven times. How often does he forgive us for Jesus’ sake? He forgives us more than we can sin.
Now then if the LORD is that way with us, should we not do the same for the person who comes to us, says they were wrong, they have sinned against us and want to make amends? As the LORD has had mercy on us should we not do the same for our brother?
As the LORD disciplines us, that is, he does lay upon us temporal punishments to train us not to sin and to warn others not to do the same behavior, we may let those who sin against us receive their due for their sins against us. They may have to return what they stole. They may have to fix what they broke or get a new one. Sometimes they may even have to face jail time. That does not mean we haven’t forgiven them from our hearts. We do not want God to not forgive them. We do not want them to suffer for all eternity the wrath of God. We don’t even want to cause them harm, even if they deserve it. In our hearts we forgive them and refuse to hold these sins against them before God. Before God, as far as we are concerned, it never happened, just as God forgives us for Christ’s sake. We can only do this because we believe this is how God is toward us. If God can forgive us who are we not to forgive those who sin against us. Our sins against God are far greater than any sins against us. Who are we? Yet Jesus dies on the cross so our sins can be forgiven. He also died on the cross so we can forgive those who sin against us. Charge it to Christ. He has paid it.
Heavenly Father, grant us faith to believe you are merciful, kind, loving and forgiving towards us for Christ’s sake so we may be the same towards those who sin against us. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.