Amy Kelley, Dir. of Program Ministries, Gethsemane

Matthew 18:21-22 (CEB)

21 Then Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, how many times should I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Should I forgive as many as seven times?”

22 Jesus said, “Not just seven times, but rather as many as seventy-seven times.

Reflection:

Let’s go back to Physics class, shall we? When you sit in your chair, your body exerts a downward force on the chair and the chair exerts an upward force on your body. There are two forces resulting from this interaction – a force on the chair and a force on your body. These two forces are called action and reaction forces and are the subject of Newton’s third law of motion. Newton’s third law is: For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. The statement means that in every interaction, there is a pair of forces acting on the two interacting objects. The same thing can be said for being a good neighbor, friend, coworker, spouse, sibling. As followers of Jesus we have a similar concept. Let’s call it Neighbor’s Third Law: For every sin, there is an equal and opposite amount of merciful and holy forgiveness.

In this scripture, Jesus explains to Peter that forgiveness is not a one-and-done thing. Forgiveness needs to happen over and over, no matter the wrongdoing that has happened. This is one of our biggest struggles as humans. Someone can say, “I’m sorry,” and our typical response is, “It’s okay, just don’t do it again.” That seems like a logical request, right? But whether intentional or not, we repeatedly make mistakes and hurt each other. 

The other aspect of forgiveness happens when memories of pain or betrayal by someone in our life resurface. When that memory comes up, an act of forgiveness must happen again, or resentment can build up in our hearts, continuing to cause us harm.

Jesus’ heart was filled with love, peace, forgiveness. Living like Jesus means we unburden our hearts by forgiving others over and over again. If you carry resentment or hate in your heart, it doesn’t leave much room for love and forgiveness. Now, I hear that voice in your head saying, “I keep getting hurt by this person… so I’m supposed to just take it, forgive them and move on?” Of course, this process includes setting up boundaries. But mercy and forgiveness have to cover the whole process or we remain trapped.

We need not be perfect in our ventures. Jesus will help us through the Holy Spirit. We utilize Neighbor’s Third Law because it has already been applied to us for eternity. 

Prayer:

God of all neighbors, I thank you that you have shown mercy on me every single day. You have forgiven me time and time again, even when I can’t forgive myself. Help me to become intimately familiar with this holy concept of forgiveness so that when I need to pour it out on someone else, I know how to. Help me to show that same merciful and holy forgiveness to my neighbors. I want to make room in my heart for love and compassion, not resentment and bitterness. I love You, God! Amen.