The Heart Of The Matter. Join Lady Renee Flowers of Transformation Community Church for this week’s Winning Women Wednesday, where she talks about “The Heart Of The Matter”. We hope you’ll be blessed by this timely and inspirational message. Many blessings!
The Heart of the Matter
Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”
(Matthew 18:21)
Have you ever said or heard: “Let’s get to the heart of the matter” or “What’s the heart of the matter?”
I think it’s about forgiveness.” This is exactly what Jesus was getting at in our passage for today.
Peter asks Jesus, “How many times shall I forgive my brother or sister?” And Jesus responds with the parable of the unforgiving servant.
This servant, who has been forgiven much, refuses to forgive someone who owes him only a little.
In this parable, Jesus is showing us there is no limit to the number of times we should forgive others. Why? Because we should forgive as God forgives.
Our forgiveness of others shows that we realize how much God has forgiven us.
God’s transforming mercy enables us to show mercy to others out of love for God.
Some psychologists say that forgiveness is a personal option, suggesting a kind of permission structure for not forgiving people who have wronged us.
(Like you’re giving permission for that person to be in your life and to be in relationship with them…)
Now, in some cases, of course, it may not be wise to fully embrace or trust someone whom we have forgiven.
And please know that forgiving some injuries/hurts may take hard work and may not completely resolve the hurt/pain that was caused.
But forgiving is the right thing to do.
For Jesus, for Peter, and for us, forgiveness is the heart of the matter.
As Jesus has forgiven us all of our sins, we need to ask Jesus to help us by his grace to forgive others. Amen