No Limits

No Limits

“I forgive you.” Have you said those words lately? There’s so much power and liberty in them. We all need to hear them and say them frequently, even when it’s hard.

Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ forgive him. Luke 17:3-4

This seems so outrageous at first. What Jesus calls for is so over the top, so radical. I don’t think I have ever forgiven anyone seven times in one day. I’m confident that I would reach my limit long before then, say around transgression two or three.

In a regular workday, forgiving someone seven times would mean that I’m a real pushover and I desperately need to choose my company more wisely. But in Kingdom living, forgiving someone seven times is the least we can do for a sincere brother or sister.

And it doesn’t mean you’re a pushover. It means you’re being like Jesus.

Here’s why: God puts no limits on how much or how often he’ll forgive us. There is no cap on his mercy to us. As a result, he demands that we do the same.

But there is a condition we need to look for–if he repents. You cannot over-forgive someone who is genuinely repenting. If they’re willing to step up to the plate, own their sin and truly try to turn away from it, then we are required to pardon them and remain in fellowship with them, even if it happens seven times in one day.

Jesus began this teaching with a warning: Be on your guard! His concern is not that we’ll forgive haphazardly or inappropriately, but rather that we won’t forgive sufficiently. Jesus warned us about the dangers of unforgiveness: it only increases our own guilt before God.

How’s your forgiveness? Do you put a limit on how often or how much you’re willing to forgive another? Do you refuse to pardon someone who’s wounded you more than once, even when they repent?

Don’t close off your heart to a repenting brother or sister. It only places you over them as their judge, and that’s something you are not qualified to be.

Forgive your repenting brother today. My guess is you’re going to need them to return the favor someday.

 

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