Asking or Answering?

“Then Peter came to him and asked, “Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?” Matt.18:21

The question on forgiveness. It is pivotal that Jesus answered the question on forgiveness. Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?” Have you met people that ask a question and offer the answer? Peter said seven times? In other words, “Jesus, don’t go past seven please”. Then Jesus says, “No, not seven times but seventy times seven” – four hundred and ninety times – daily! Yes! In the words of Jesus you are to forgive four hundred and ninety times in a day. If you understand this, your marriage will be so sweet. In fact your marriage will be the sweetest place on earth and your home will be so harmonious. I say to my wife, I am entitled to offend you four hundred and ninety times a day and she must forgive. But guess what, it is also her entitlement and I must also forgive. What Jesus was saying in essence is you really cannot keep count of four hundred and ninety offences on a daily basis. If you are able to keep count then something is definitely wrong. Jesus is saying let it go and at the beginning of every new day, the count resets to zero. God’s mercies are new every morning. Wow!

After preaching my heart out on what Jesus says about forgiveness at a midweek service, I was approached by a man who told me his mission was to kill the man who had killed his wife. While he traveled on a business trip, his Nigerian neighbor had raped and killed his wife. He had finally traced the man to the Lekki –Ajah axis, so he came to attend his final service and was heading out to kill the man and then take whatever comes. And with the gun right there in his pocket, he looked straight at me and said, “Pastor, so are you trying to say I should not kill him? Pastor, are you saying I should forgive him?” How do I tackle this? This man was very angry and had a gun in his pocket. He told me his story and could easily take his anger out on me. So what do I do? I redirected his focus to the One that matters – to Jesus. I said Jesus says you ought to just let it go. He wept and wept and we prayed together. Forgiveness is tough, that is the truth; very tough sometimes. But there is no other way with God but to forgive – let go. God says vengeance is mine, I will repay. Let God fight for you, let God repay. Sometimes you think God is slow or that He will not handle it the way we think our offenders deserve. God is not slow but He is a just God.

Prayer: Father, help me to be slow to get angry and be quick to forgive no matter what. Help me keep my focus on Jesus in all things, in Jesus Name.