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)
