Christianity is all about forgiveness. Through the self-giving, self-emptying sacrifice of Jesus, we can receive God’s forgiveness. And like God, we are to offer forgiveness to others, at least 70 x 7 times (Mt 18:22). Jesus even teaches us a scary way to pray: “Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors” (Mt 6:12).
Yet forgiving is so very HARD to do! Clearly, they don’t deserve our forgiveness, or there would be no insult, injury, or debt to forgive at all! And what if they have never apologized or are not even sorry for what they did? And what if they were sorry yet keep doing the same thing again and again?
For me, forgiveness is a struggle, both giving and receiving forgiveness. Yet my persistent prayer is that my love for God would increase. And Jesus told Simon the Pharisee (who thought he had little to be forgiven), “Whoever is forgiven little loves little.” (Luke 7:47b)
So, God, I choose forgiveness, whether I feel like it or not. I choose to forgive again and again. I choose to apologize to others. I choose to repent, confess, and receive your forgiveness. I want to love more.