Matthew 18:21 Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? 22 Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.
To forgive someone when they have done something to hurt you is sometimes the hardest thing for us to do. We may feel mad, hurt, used, betrayed as well as many other feelings. You you can choose to dislike that person and never talk to them again, or you can choose to forgive and understand what you have learned from this person and move forward with you life with that person as a friend or just someone you see from time to time.
A simple example would be if a neighbor asks to borrow something from you. He/she says they will bring it back the next day. 2 weeks later you still haven't seen it. So you may have to go to that persons house and ask for the item back. This is a frustrating situation, but it has an easy fix and can be easily forgiven. The next time that person asks to borrow something, you have a choice. You have learned from this and can either say no, or say yes and just know you will most likely have to ask for it back. This is a situation where you can forgive them but not exactly forget. You just have the knowledge to make a decision that will not cause you to be upset in the end.
I am going to use my mother as an my second example, because this is the biggest case of not being able to forgive that I have ever been close to. My mother and father were married for 20 years. My father started seeing another woman and ended up asking for a divorce. Now, I realize this is a very devastating circumstance and not all situations are this bad. I do understand how badly this hurt and wounded her. Something this bad is going to take time to be able to get past and be able to forgive. But my mother never forgave! She past away 2 years ago (almost 30 years later) and the pain that she held within her was just as bad as if it had happened the day before. In my mothers situation, she allowed the unforgiveness to affect her the rest of her life. It hurt her more that it did my father. It ended up affecting her mind and body because when a person holds hatred in their heart, it can literally make them physically sick. I have witnessed this first hand and it has affected me greatly over the years.
God always knows what is best for us and that unforgiveness can work on our hearts and minds and hinder us from being the person that He wants us to be. Forgiveness is a command in God's word. Here are just two more verses, but there are so many more;
Luke 6:37 - Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven:
Matthew 6:15 - But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Most of the time, if we choose not to forgive, we are just hurting ourselves. Every time we see that person, every time we hear their name, every time we are reminded, It's like a knife that keeps burying itself deeper in an open wound. If we hold on to hatred, we can not be loving and compassionate to others because we have this weight holding us back.
Jesus says we are to forgive as many times as we are sinned against. God gave his son! Jesus gave his life! All.... so that we could be forgiven!
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