40 Days of Seeking Him Lent 2012 ~ Day 18 Forgiveness

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This morning, I spent some time reading from A Word Among Us. I enjoy the reflections, but more important for me is the ready access to the daily Scripture readings. Today’s Gospel reading is one that is both familiar and difficult to fully embrace at times.Specifically on forgivness: both how often we must forgive and what happens when we do not forgive another.

 

Gospel Reading on Forgiveness: Matthew  18:21-25

Peter approached Jesus and asked him, “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him? As many as seven times?”

Jesus answered, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times. That is why the Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who decided to settle accounts with his servants.

When he began the accounting, a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount. Since he had no way of paying it back, his master ordered him to be sold, along with his wife, his children, and all his property,in payment of the debt.

At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said,’Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.’

Moved with compassion the master of that servant let him go and forgave him the loan.

When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a much smaller amount. He seized him and started to choke him, demanding, ‘Pay back what you owe.’

Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him,’Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’

But he refused. Instead, he had him put in prison until he paid back the debt.

Now when his fellow servants saw what had happened, they were deeply disturbed, and went to their master and reported the whole affair.

His master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant!

I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to. Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant, as I had pity on you?’

Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers until he should pay back the whole debt.

So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives your brother from your heart.”

Forgiveness of Others

Forgiveness is a tough, conscious choice Christians are called to make.  Reading this passage today reminded me of the talk I attended on Divine Mercy last week.  As Father described, we can view forgiveness as the lubricant in relationships.

Forgiving someone for the same transgression over and over can be especially difficult.  It is not in our nature to forgive and the more often someone has injured us through their actions, the more difficult it is to offer that forgiveness.  There’s even the phrase “Hurt me once, shame on you.  Hurt me twice, shame on me!” that I’ve heard a few people in my life utter on occasion. 

Yet, Christ is telling us to forgive again and again.

I’d love to say that I have completely mastered this call to forgive.  But, I must admit that it is occasionally a struggle for me. 

In one relationship, I thought I was forgiving the other person.  However, I wasn’t letting go of the hurt and instead allowed it to fester beneath the surface to a point that it was poisoning the relationship.  After a wake-up call, I prayed long and hard and asked God to help me leave it all in the past and take that step to forgive the person again.  And, I made a point of talking to the individual and extending my forgiveness from all past transgressions.

While I can’t say that the relationship is ‘ideal’ by some, I can say that God has worked wonders.  Most important for me is the extension of His grace and the loss of all that resentment that had been hanging around. 

A heavy weight is gone and I’ve experienced a few occasions since where I could just feel God’s love pouring over me.  Words would fail me to describe how that felt.

And, having experienced it, I will make a more conscious effort to forgive and let go of resentment so God can work on not only the person I am forgiving but myself as well.

 

Do you find repeated forgiveness of others difficult?
What are you doing to abide by Christ’s teaching in this matter?

 

This year, I am joining Trish @ A House Upon the Rock in co-hosting the 40 Days of Seeking Him meme. The linky will be up each week so you can add in posts daily, weekly, or whenever you are able. The posts can be about anything related to Lent and preparing for Easter ~ crafts, food, devotions, music or reflections are all welcomed.

 

I hope you will join us on this journey as we prepare our hearts to receive the wonderful gift of salvation we’ve been given through Jesus’ death and resurrection.