Colossians 3:13 says,"Bearing with one another,and forgiving one another;even as Christ forgave you,so you also must do." Matthew 18:21-22 says,"Then Peter cme to Him and said,"Lord,how often shall my brother sin against me,and I forgive him? Up to seven times? Jesus said to him,"I do not say to you,up to seven times,but up to seventy times seven." Forgiveness is marked all throughout the bible,Jesus speaks of forgiveness many times. We are told to forgive,not just once,but seventy times seven.Why is so hard to forgive others? Yes,we hurt,many times we do wrong,but Jesus died so that we may have life,He died so that we could have forgiveness. Jesus forgives us when we go to him with humble hearts.How many times have we gone to Jesus to ask Him to forgive us?We always want His forgiveness,and seek it,but why when it comes to others,why do we not do the same?In life we can't keep bringing up the past.We can't keep score,and everytime we get angry we can't bring up all the things that person has ever done wrong.Jesus doesnt do that with us.When are sins are forgiven they are forgotten,once and for all.Jesus doesnt keep score with us,praise God,my score would be pretty high.How about yours?When we have hurt someone,if we do not choose to forgive that is hurting us,we turn that hurt into pain,anger,bitterness,and we start to wear that ugly thing around our necks,and it drags us down and many times keeps us down.It turns us into people we can't even recognise.What a life is that to carry around bitterness and anger to another person?We become that anger,and it takes over our whole lives.Jesus knew this before us.Look at all the lies,hurt,the cross that Jesus endured,and He still said,"Forgive them for they do not know!" He knew pain and hurt long before us.He forgave,and we too must forgive.If we do not forgive how can there be love? Why do we hold on to it,does it give us power? Do we think we are giving in if we forgive? Or are we thinking if I forgive I am weak,and I am not letting that person take from me again? It's not about us,its about Christ and the cross.He lived and died a sinless life for us.When we refuse to let go,and forgive,what are we saying to Christ?That what He did for us was not good enough? We can't live a sinless life like Christ,but we can sin less.We can give our hearts to Him,and forgive others with the same amount of grace and mercy we want from Christ that He is so willing to give freely. So what can we do today? We can hold on to that bitterness in our hearts,and let it drown us from all the weight,or we can choose to forgive as Christ forgives us,and have life without bitterness on our backs. If Christ was able to forgive those who hurt Him,and forgive us for our sins on a daily basis,who are we to not follow and forgive seventy times seven?
