Day Nineteen - Write a letter to a loved one

Luke 17:4 And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.

                  This is one of the most difficult parts of Christianity.  There are some people who are easy to forgive.  They are sorry that they hurt us and desire to be a friend.  There are others who are very difficult to forgive.  The hurt they have caused has left a deep scar.  Whenever we think of that person,  we think of the pain that they have caused.  There are three reasons why it is hard to forgive someone.

1) The crime is great.  It is more than stealing a pencil.  The hurt has changed who we are and how we deal with people.  The hurt has brought chronic pain and suffering for years.

2) Someone we love has been hurt.  It is easier to forgive someone who hurt us than it is to forgive someone who has hurt our son or daughter.

3)  The crime is repeated.  They have not learned the lesson.  They keep hurting us over and over.  

Jesus dealt with this last situation.  He has asked us to forgive someone who has sinned against us seven times in one day.  Peter asked,  “Lord how oft shall we forgive our brother,  till seven times?”  Jesus answered,  “I say not seven times,  but until seventy times seven.” 

I do not think that I have ever seen anyone sin against me 490 times.  But I know that I have sinned that many and more against my Lord.  The reason that we can forgive a person the 490th time is because we have forgiven them 489 times.  Since forgiveness is not holding onto the sin and cleaning the slate,  every time we forgive someone,  we only have to forgive them for that one offence.

Ephesians 4:32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.

An Exercise to increase my Faith  -  This may be the hardest exercise and perhaps an exercise that some will not want to try.  Write a letter to a loved one or friend who has hurt you over the years.  Explain the hurt and ask them to forgive anything that you have done to them.  Sincerely desire to restore a broken relationship.  Then,   forgive them.  You don't have to put it in writing.  But pray that God would take away any bitter feelings you might have, and ask Him to bless the words that you write, that He would mend the broken relationship.