it is rarely a one-time shot…

i relinquish my right to get even, i respond to evil with good and i repeat this process as long as necessary.

forgiveness is never or rarely a one-time shot. it’s rarely a one-time event. forgiveness goes on and on and on. how often do i have to do this? how often do i have to keep releasing my right to get even? how often do i have to keep blessing them when they do evil?

until the pain stops. until you stop feeling the hurt. and then you’ll know you’ve forgiven them. matthew 18.21-22 (nlt), peter asked JESUS, “LORD, how often should i forgive someone who sins against me? seven times?” “no,” JESUS replied. “seventy times seven.”

what’s going on here? peter thought he was being pretty magnanimous. in jewish law, you had to forgive a person three times. and after you’d forgiven them three times, that was it. you didn’t have to forgive them any more. so peter asked, “how often do i have to forgive somebody who hurts me? how often do i have to forgive my brother?” it may have been his real brother. how often? he’s thinking, “the law says three times. how about if i double it, and add in one for good measure. seven times?” (GOD’s going to really be impressed with this!)

and JESUS says, “wrong! you’re not even close! how about seventy times seven.” HE’s saying “to infinity and beyond! you just keep on doing it. you just keep on forgiving. how do you know that you’ve let it go? you just keep on doing it until the pain stops. every time you remember that hurt, you make a willful choice in your mind and say, “GOD, they really hurt me.” you don’t minimize the hurt and say it wasn’t a big deal. it was a big deal, and that’s why you still remember it. “GOD, they hurt me, and it still hurts. but i am choosing, because i want to be filled with love and not resentment, i am choosing to give up my right to get even, to seek revenge, to wish bad on that person. i am choosing to bless them who hurt me. GOD, i pray you’ll bless their life. not because they deserve it. they don’t. i don’t deserve your blessing, GOD. but i pray that you’d show grace to them like you’ve shown to me.” you keep on doing it until you know you’ve released them.

just a thought from the front porch…