Christian Advice

Advice 18: forgive so you'll be forgiven

Then Peter approached him and asked, "Lord, how many times must I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? As many as seven times?" "I tell you, not as many as seven," Jesus replied, "but seventy times seven."
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭18:21-22‬ ‭CSB‬‬

Forgiveness is something that I have struggled with for a long time. I always fear that if I forgive easily, then people will take advantage of me, or think I'm weak. I worry that they will do the same things again. But I try to remind my self of the many times that I asked God for forgiveness, and went back to the same sin, and he still forgave me. Often times the things we don't want others to do to us is what we do to God. We tell him we're sorry but because of our fleshly nature we go back to the sin that so easily entangles. Matthew 6:14-15 says "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you don't forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." It is hypocritical for us to beg for Gods forgiveness everyday and not forgive the person sitting right in-front of us. Trust me I know that it is hard, because humans can be annoying sometimes, but we still need to give the same grace that we'd like to receive. Nobody's perfect, not even you! So forgive your brothers and sisters so that you also will be forgiven.