Matthew 18:21,22 - The Correct Number Of Times To Forgive (part 2).

Matthew 18:21, 22 - The Correct Number Of Times To Forgive (part 
2). 

Matthew 18:21, 22 (NIV)  Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, 
"Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against 
me? Up to seven times?"  Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven 
times, but seventy-seven times.   

Matthew 18:21, 22 (CWR)  Then Peter asked Jesus, "How many times 
should I forgive my brother? Is seven times enough?  Jesus said, 
"Peter, it is not a question of how many times, but a question of your 
own attitude. If your attitude is right, you'll forgive him seventy 
times seven because you love him. 

REVIEW: Matthew 18:21, 22 - The Correct Number Of Times To 
Forgive (part 1).  THEN enjoy the pearls of part 2 below: 

Salvation and Forgiveness
  Religious leaders of Jesus' day - the Pharisees and Sadducees 
- taught that forgiveness was an exhaustible resource. Peter 
probably thought he was being very generous in offering to forgive 
someone seven times. How like us! We often think that forgiveness should 
have an end - that there comes a time when we just shouldn't forgive 
anymore. Jesus' answer, however, represented a revolutionary change in 
the way people thought about forgiveness. 
  Jesus told Peter to forgive someone not just seven times, but 
"seventy times seven," or 490 times! In other words, don't even keep 
count just keep on forgiving. Jesus was trying to help Peter 
understand that we should extend unlimited forgiveness to one another, 
because that's the kind of forgiveness God extends to us. God isn't 
keeping count of the number of times you must come to him for 
forgiveness. He continues to forgive. He doesn't erase the consequences that 
your sins may have set into motion, but he does promise to forgive. 
  Jesus commands us to forgive those who have hurt us. When we 
realize the forgiveness we must constantly ask from God, and how freely 
he gives it, we can much more easily forgive those who sin against 
us. [The One Year Bible for New Believers] 

The Resentment Barrier
  Resentments are the blocks that hold us back from loving 
ourselves and others.  Resentments do not punish the other person; they 
punish us.  They become barriers to feeling good and enjoying life.  
They prevent us from being in harmony with the world.  Resentments 
are hardened chunks of anger.  They loosen up and dissolve with 
forgiveness and letting go. 
  Letting go of resentments does not mean we allow the other 
person to do anything to us that he or she wants.  It means we accept 
what happened in the past, and we set boundaries for the future.  We 
can let go of resentments and still have boundaries! 
  We try to see the good in the person, or the good that 
ultimately evolved from whatever incident we feel resentful about.  We try 
to see our part. 
  Then we put the incident to rest.
  Praying for those we resent helps.  Asking God to take our 
resentments from us helps too. 
  What better way to begin each new day, or week, or month, than 
by cleaning the slate of the past, and moving ahead free of 
resentments.  [Melody Beattie; Recovery Devotional Bible] 

From Victim to Victor
  In his book, Beneath the Cross of Jesus, A. Leonard Griffith 
tells the story of a young Korean exchange student, a leader in 
Christian circles at the University of Pennsylvania. The student left his 
apartment on the evening of April 25, 1958, to mail a letter to his 
parents. As he turned from the mailbox, he was met by eleven 
leather-jacketed teenage boys. Without a word, they beat him 
with a blackjack, a 
 lead pipe, and their shoes and fists - and left him lying dead in the 
gutter.  
  All of Philadelphia cried out for vengeance. The district 
attorney planned to seek the death penalty for the arrested youth. And 
then, the following letter arrived, signed by the boy's parents and 
twenty other relatives in Korea: "Our family has met together and we 
have decided to petition that the most generous treatment possible 
within the laws of your government be given to those who have committed 
this criminal action.... In order to give evidence of our sincere 
hope contained in this petition, we have decided to save money to 
start a fund to be used for the religious, educational, vocational, 
and social guidance of the boys when they are released.... We have 
dared to express our hope with a spirit received from the gospel of 
our Savior Jesus Christ who died for our sins." [God's Little 
Devotional Bible]