Life is a
lot like “bumper cars” at an amusement park. You get in your car, knowing that
you will get hit . . . you just don’t know how hard. And when you get hit, you
step on the gas pedal, chase the one who has hit you, and hope to bump that
person harder than they have bumped you.
That may
be a fun strategy for bumper cars, but it’s a terrible strategy for life. When
you get bumped in life, bumping back only escalates matters and in the end
everyone suffers damage.
Jesus had
a better strategy: Forgive those who have “bumped” us. Like Peter, we may
wonder how many times we have to forgive. When Peter asked Jesus, “Up to seven
times?” Jesus answered “Up to seventy times seven” (Matt. 18:21-22). In other
words, there are no limits to grace. We should always extend a spirit of
forgiveness. Why? In the story of the forgiving master, Jesus explained that we
forgive not because our offenders deserve it but because we’ve been forgiven.
He says, “I forgave you . . . because you begged me. Should you not also have
had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?” (vv.32-33).
Since we
are among those who’ve been forgiven much, let’s stop the damage and share that
blessing with others.
Forgiveness
is God’s grace in action through us. (RBC)
