This sermon emphasizes the importance of forgiveness, using the concept of '70 x 7' from Matthew 18:21-35. It delves into the struggle of forgiving others, the need to cover offenses with love, and the detrimental effects of holding onto bitterness. The sermon highlights the power of God's love to enable forgiveness, the impact of forgiveness on our health and mental state, and the significance of maintaining a Christ-like testimony through forgiveness.

It's a joy to be here. It's always a responsibility to be here. But thank you very much for giving me that privilege, us as a family the privilege of sharing with you. And I want to thank Hannah and Co. for the beautiful way our rooms were decorated today. I said to Hannah we could advertise her as a decorating company because it all looks so lovely. And I'm very grateful for all the love, all the kindness. I'll just have another word of prayer, please. Oh, Father, it's such a responsibility to stand here. But Lord, we look to You, I look to You, to come and tend the minister to our hearts. Lord, we are women. We are the weaker vessels. And we need Thy help. We need Thy grace, Lord, upon our lives. Come in this morning and bless us, Father. In Jesus' name, Amen. All right, we're going to read from Matthew 18, 21-35. And the subject for today's talk is 70 x 7. 70 x 7, that's the subject. Then Peter came to him and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Until seven times? And Jesus said unto him, I say not unto thee until seven times, but until 70 x 7. Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king which would take account of his servants. And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him which owed him ten thousand talents. But as for as much as he had not to pay, his Lord commanded him to be sold and his wife and children and all that he had and payment to be made. The servant therefore fell down and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me and I will pay you all. Then the Lord of that servant was moved with compassion and loosed him and forgave him the debt. But the same servant went out and found one of his fellow servants which owed him a hundred pence. And he laid hands on him and took him by his throat, saying, Pay me what thou owest. And his fellow servant fell down at his feet and besought him, saying, Have patience with me and I will pay thee all. And he would not, but went and cast him into prison till he should pay the debt. So when his fellow servants saw what was done, they were very sorry and came and told unto their Lord all that was done. Then his Lord, after he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt because thou desirest me. Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellow servant, even as I had pity on thee? And his Lord was wroth and delivered him to the tormentors till he should pay all that was due to him. So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you if you from your hearts forgive not everyone his brother their trespasses. We start the reading with a very human and natural situation. A sort of situation that we all experience. There are two brothers. Now the one brother we know well. He was the impulsive. He was the reactive, Peter. And yet he was also the Peter that would become the pillar of the church. And then we have Peter's brother. Now Peter was exasperated. Peter was angry. Peter's patience was stretched on a taut line. Why? Because his brother kept offending him. I don't know what his brother did. But in Peter's eyes this brother had passed the limits of tolerance and forbearance. And Peter was longing to give him a piece of his mind. Longing to let this brother in South African terms have it from him. Peter felt impatient. He did not see how he could keep right unforgiving. Impossible, cried he. I've suffered, tolerated my brother's treatment, Lord. Why should I keep forgiving? He angrily implored. Yet Peter, Christ's disciple, would cut off a man's ear and swear and deny his master for all the folk to hear. Soon he would beg forgiveness and cry God, pardon me. How sad that he was tardy to act compassionately. Now Peter felt justified. Peter felt that he was a saint. In fact, if he had a painting made of him, he would probably have expected a halo to be put on above his head. Because after all, he'd forgiven his brother five times, six times, it may even be that he'd reached the seven times limit. Can we identify with Peter? Do we perhaps have a brother that is difficult to forgive? Whose actions and reactions have tried our patience? Is he a sister, perhaps a sister that's different to you? And you always seem to be on the losing end. She gets all the attention and the lesser jobs, and you are the drudge. You are the drudge who's not appreciated. And it seems to you that you just have to say, Lord, I've had enough. It's too much. I just can't forgive her for her attitude and what she does to me. Perhaps it's a Christian sister in the church and she undermines you and you've tried to have victory over it, but it's just too much. You've ignored the hurts, but your heart is sore. Why should you keep forgiving all the time when she keeps hurting all the time? You say, why do I have to suffer? And she bit off scot-free. It may be a saved or unsaved husband who's undermined you as a wife in front of the children. You've been belittled. Your confidence has been broken. And you say, why must I keep on forgiving? How many times must I forgive? Surely not more than seven times. Dear Lord, I've been so patient with someone that you know. Although she's been so horrid, I bore it blow by blow. A human saint. I've let her devour me bit by bit. But Lord, there must be limits. Forgiveness an ill fit. My husband does not know thee. He undermines my mind. His actions and reactions are very far from kind. I'm sick of being patient. Soft answers tire me. Why should I keep forgiving? Surely you'll release me? Dear Lord, my faith was shattered by someone's broken trust. Why should I not expose him? For peace of mind, I must. For seven times I'll try. Forgive, endure, survive. But seven is the limit. For more I cannot strive. Is that the message of your heart? But now, what does God do? What does the Lord Jesus do when Peter comes with his problem? The Lord Jesus bowls Peter's statement he sweeps it out of the room. And he uses this term, which is the subject for today. Seventy times seven. Seventy times seven, Peter. You know what seventy times seven does? You know what four hundred and ninety times the forgiving does? It changes the effort, the burden, the problem to forgive and turns it into a habit to forgive. A nature to forgive. And eventually, it will be a joy to forgive. That is what the Lord Jesus Christ is presenting to Peter. So, because the Bible is so practical, the Bible paints a picture for us to see. There is a king and he has servants. And the servants are called to give account. Now, one day, each one of us will have to give account to the king of kings. A far greater king. There is a day of reckoning that comes. It comes in this picture and it comes for us. Now, this servant owed this king a lot of money. Perhaps he thought, I can escape judgment. I can put it off for a while. I'll not be detected. Perhaps he was just careless and indifferent, as we sometimes are to the judge of the whole earth that we will one day have to face. But there is no escaping. And one day, it will be a fearful thing to land in the hands of the living God. Now, the king demands payment. He says, you have to pay. And you know, the thing that happens is this man isn't threatened with jail, but his wife and his children are threatened with jail. And what we do does not only affect us, but it affects our family and those around it. Us. And then what does he do? He does what we need to do. He falls on his knees and he says, oh, please forgive me. But then he has a wrong solution. He says, give me time and I will pay all. And you know, sometimes when we've done wrong, we say, give me time and I will work on this wrong thing in my life. But that is not the way the king deals. He forgives him all the debt. He forgives him and wipes it clean. So the man was pardoned. And then he comes across another man who owes him a little teeny weeny bit. And what does he do to this man? He who had been forgiven everything, he turns to this man and because of what he owes him, he grabs him by the neck and shakes him and forces him to admit that he can't pay it and he throws him and his family into prison. What a horrible man, we say. How horrible that he could react like that. How could he not remember that the king had forgiven him? How cruel, how ruthless. But wait, when does the Lord Jesus tell the story? He tells it immediately after Peter says, how many times shall I forgive my brother? As ugly as that man's treatment was of that other offender, so ugly is our treatment if we do not forgive our brother. God has forgiven us everything and yet we often find it so difficult to forgive our brother and our sister. Our Peter, you who found it hard to bear with your brother, who counted up the single times your pardon did confer, who waited for the moment that you could retaliate, who exchanged love forbearance for a thirst of vengeance, hate. How many times, oh Peter, you stumbled on life's way. How many times I lifted you up within each day. But soon, oh angry Peter, you failed so horribly, cried bitterly for pardon. Must I not pardon thee? How can you speak of seven times when you my pardon gained? How can you fold your wings of love? Your master's heart is pained. It will not be long before you will my name deny and swear. We bitterly and cry forgive. Will seven suffice then? You tasted my forgiveness. Be swift to give the same. For only then my love is shown. You glorify my name. Now let us put ourselves into Peter's shoes. He's feeling self-righteous. He's forgiven close to seven times and we can echo his feelings. He refused to accommodate the weakness, the failure of his brother. But you know forgiveness is not weak. Forgiveness is sometimes seen as a weakness. If you forgive, you don't embrace the wrong. You abhor evil and you cleave to that which is good. But because of God's grace towards you, you are willing to forgive others. The Lord Jesus Christ gave his life for us to forgive us. And somebody else does something wrong to us. If you think of the forgiveness he gave us, how little is our forgiveness that Christ asked us to give to others. But the second thing we need to know is why should we forgive? Why must I forgive? As Peter said, why must I forgive more than seven times? Why must I forgive? There are solemn warnings in the Word of God that warn us that if we do not forgive, we face the wrath of God. We don't want to forgive because we think we'll be a fool to forgive. We're going to be taken for a ride if we forgive. We want to retain our rights and our dignity, but we cannot afford as a Christian not to forgive. Matthew 18, 34-35 And his Lord was wrath, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due to him. So likewise from my heavenly Father do also unto you, if you from your hearts forgive not everyone his brother their trespasses. Matthew 6, 12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. As 6, 14, 15 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your heavenly Father forgive your trespasses. Mark 11, 25 And when you stand praying, forgive if ye have ought against any, that your Father which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. Judge not, and ye shall not be judged. Luke 6 Condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned. Forgive, and ye shall be forgiven. Luke 11, 4 And forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. And I think there is a temptation not only to be tempted to go into sin, but the sin of not forgiving. Now why should I forgive? First of all, we face the judgment of God if we don't forgive. Secondly, if we do not forgive others, our health will suffer. I can guarantee you, your health will suffer. You will be unhappy. You will not laugh. You will be miserable. I read in the International Express, I was in the shop and they had the International Express, the South African edition, the 23rd to the 29th of August, an article, a non-Christian article said bitterness is bad for your health. You will become physically ill. It affects your mental health. Negative emotion, if continually negative, will damage your metabolism, your immune system and your organs. Then Dr. Sharon Towers goes further on page 18 to say, even in the workplace if there is bitterness against others, if there is stress because of bitterness, the death rate has a higher risk of 140% for that person. It's a shocking statement. The Bible says in Proverbs, a merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance, but by sorrow of heart is the spirit broken. Ephesians 4, 31-32, let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamour and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice. And be ye kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving one another even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you. I'm constantly unhappy with circumstances like each day I clash with people, each day I'm ending strife. I'm tired and sick of living. Life is a constant strain. I find my body crumbling with so much hurt and pain. The doctors fail to fathom the cause for my sad state. They cannot see their anger, my unforgiving hate. Ah, let me be forgiving, not count up each offence, rather bless the offender, love be the recompense. If we do not forgive, thirdly, our mental state will be affected. We will not be able to think properly. What people will do will be tainted by the bitter dissatisfaction of previous conduct. We will not treat a situation as a new situation. We will not give people a fresh start. We will drag our preconceived condemnation of people along with us, and we will end up with a warped view of life. Because I was so angry with a brother-sister lord, I saw life through dark spectacles, and what I saw deplored. My attitude was negative, my expectation doomed. The joy that marks a Christian I had ousted with a broom. I find my mind's affected and my faith has shrunk away, because I would not allow him to cleanse these thoughts away. If we do not forgive, the root of bitterness will entwine itself into our being and will mar our lives. Now, the root of bitterness is of Satan. It is a horrific root. It undermines our health and our mental state, and it coils itself around our heart, and it warps not only our mind, but our personality. We cannot allow bitterness to become part of our life. How can I be expected to forgive past seven, lord? The offences were so heinous the person I abhorred. My patience has its limits. It can stretch, but not too far. Six times the tension's breaking point. Seven beyond the par, that's what you say. Ah, child, I did not pour my wrath on you when you failed me. Rather I held a helping hand to restore, strengthen thee. How can you count to seven when you my pardon gained, enjoying my forgiveness and again, my child, my heart is bound. Bitterness sours our lives. Now you have to remember that the only person that suffers when the person is bitter is the person themselves. I know a lady who was hurt publicly by a gentleman. Now this gentleman really was wrong in what he said publicly to this lady, a Christian lady, and she was humiliated in front of other people. And for years she just, this whole incident made her so bitter, so angry and it was never far away from her thought for years and years. But eventually she came to the place where she felt she had to make restitution from her side. So she wrote a letter to this person to say, please, I've been bitter against you for so many years and please forgive me because of what you did. Now this man did not even remember what he had done. It was not in his thoughts for all those years and yet she had been bitter. Her testimony had been marred. Her voice had been silent in witnessing for the Lord. So the only person who really suffered was the lady herself. If you allow bitterness to grow in your heart, you will suffer. And that other person will most likely get off scot-free because they don't even know what they've done. If bitterness has gripped us, if our life has turned sour, can we adorn the gospel, our testimony, hold power? The world is full of evil. Hatred has warped men's mind. In darkness, lost and hopeless, they stumble, helpless, blind. If our words criticize men, our brothers, sisters, scaly, how can we hope to influence the lost, their souls to say? If we who are forgiven by God don't do the same to falling, failing, brethren, we don't uplift God's name. But turning to a hindrance, a stumbling block to men, while hugging every grievance, the world will scoff from them. Thus, let us watch, O Christians, what we allow to grow. Lest bitterness and anger destroy us alone. So we come to the next point which fits in with this. If we do not forgive, our testimony will be marred. If I do not forgive, my testimony will be marred. We expect the world to have hatred, to have malice, to have undermining. You only have to go into the business world to see how cruel, how ruthless they can be. The mistakes are blown out of proportion and are paraded to belittle others. But Christians should be different, shouldn't they? Christians or Christians, they should emulate Christ. Christ said, Father, forgive me. They know not what they do. By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one to another. Can the world see love in us? Can our family? Does my husband? Do my children? Do my enemies see love, love that forgives? Is the gospel attractive to others because of this love that is just pouring forth out of me? Or do I mar my testimony and blot the hope that I can reach souls because this forgiving love is not in my heart? Dear Lord, when I was angry with a fellow Christian friend, I spoke in cutting phrases I would burn with words wringed. Quite suddenly I was aware of someone's surprised stare. The unsafe person witnessed too of thy great love and care. I saw a sad smile linger, her eyes held disbelief as, ah, bitter was my deep remorse, repentance and my grief. I knew my words were powerless to reach her precious soul, for I had marred my witness by my lack of soul control. But how should we forgive? It's all very well to say, we must forgive. But how? How do I forgive? How can I have the power to forgive? The strength to forgive? Now the Bible again draws us a little picture by a wonderful verse that I love. I'm summing it up and I'll give you the verses. Love covereth a multitude of sins. It says in Proverbs 10 verse 12, Hatred stirreth up strife, but love covereth all things. 1 Peter 4 verse 8 says, and above all things have fervent charity among yourselves, for charity shall cover the multitude of sins. And that is the secret that can enable us to forgive. Now a picture is drawn. You know cover? I imagine a cloak. And there is the sin in front of you and you throw the cloak over. When the Lord Jesus said, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. He was throwing that cloak of loving forgiveness over the things. Now it is not only a cloak of forgiveness that we throw over, but on that cloak there is divine embroidery that gives you and me the ability to forgive if we only are surrendered to God so that he can help us. Now that divine embroidery says, perhaps the person is stressed and tired. That is why they are failing. And therefore I cover the offense with love. Perhaps this person has been crippled by Satan's onslaughts and therefore I cover them in love. I don't know their full story. I don't know what they're going through and therefore I cover the offense in love. I don't know the hidden heartache that that person is suffering from that makes that person react in the way they do. They have been hurt and because they have been hurt they hurt in turn and that knowledge that thought helps me to cover the offense. I can't see behind closed doors. Only God knows what domestic storms the person is going through and therefore I throw over the cloak of love. Love covering a loving thought, a loving attitude, a loving understanding. We can allow ourselves that the person themselves may be allowing themselves to be the instruments of Satan and therefore instead of condemning and shouting at them, I rather pray and cover their offense that God will help them, that God will bless them, that God will encourage them. I'm older, they're younger. Younger people still have to learn and I throw the cloak over with that. You know sometimes we don't understand situations. I was in the shopping center and there was I had Noel in a pram. I had one of those old prams with big wheels and he sat high up and he was still very tiny and I came across another lady and she had a two year old and this two year old lay on the floor and the whole shop had to listen to this child scream and banging its legs up and down and nobody could talk, it was so loud. And I smiled in sympathy but the lady didn't think I was smiling in sympathy and she turned to me in exasperation and she said wait till your child reaches the terrible twos and you won't smile. What she was actually trying to say is if you understood what I am going through, you wouldn't judge me with a smile. Now I wasn't judging her but that thought is there, if we understood what other people were going through, we would be throwing over them not condemnation but the cloak of forgiveness. The cloak that the Lord Jesus threw over when he said father they know not what they do. That Stephen did while the stones were hitting him to death, he cried out they know not what they do. It was a cloak of love. But that love that forgives is a unique love. It's a superhuman love. And it's no use thinking I can cover other people's misdeeds with love if I do not have that unique love. And that love of course is described for us in 1 Corinthians 13. That is the love that will have the ability to cover. And that is a selfless love where Christ is everything. Now first of all this love suffereth long and is kind. The love that can cover will suffer long and be kind. I always think of my granny 40 years praying for my grandfather he's unsaved. Every Saturday he went fishing with his friends and then he came back via the hotel. And when he came home he was not that steady on his feet. What did my granny do? Did she shout at him like a fishwife? She was too much of a lady to do that. She had a big pot of hot soup waiting for him when he arrived home. Love suffereth long and is kind. There was a lady I spoke to recently. She's about my age. And she had an unsaved husband as well. And for years she has suffered with this husband. He's becoming invalid. She has to care for him and he's given her a dreadful time. And I said to her, how is your husband? And you know her eyes filled with tears and compassion. She said, oh, I feel so sorry for him because he has not found Christ as Saviour yet. She wasn't sorry for herself. She was sorry for him. Love suffereth long and is kind. Dear Lord, my heart was humbled by his sister's loving care. For someone who had hurt her she showed tenderness so rare. She did not count the times he failed but rather called on God to soften up his stony heart in bringing to the fold. She was not filled with bitterness. She did not harbour hate. A bright and shining witness to admire and emulate. I think the whole community have seen the evidence that God can give us extra grace. His kindness to dispense. This love that can cover also envyeth not. Envy is a very easy pit to fall into, and I've seen people fall into it from different routes. If someone else is praised, it's so easy to feel sidestepped, to feel disgruntled, to feel slighted. Another is lifted up and you say, why not me? I must be the centre. I must be the pivot. I must be the focus. I must be the limelight. And if not, I'm going to suffer. I know the answers. I'm the spiritual authority. No one must assert my place. I won't allow it. If it happens, I won't envy them. Because I envy someone her popularity, I undermine her often to soothe and comfort me. Each time someone had spoken of her with esteem, praise, I countered their opinion and did one eyebrow raise. I could not find forgiveness for her place above mine. And thus envy was working to hurt her over time. But I became the victim. Alone people shunned me. I did not realise envy had not hurt her but... That is what happens. This love that is the ability to forgive vaunted not itself. Real Christians only vaunt Christ, not themselves. The Lord Jesus gave an example. He says, don't go for the highest seat so that somebody comes and says to you, oh, please, I don't want to hurt you, but just shift to a lower seat. There's a much more important person that needs to sit in that seat. And how embarrassing that is. The Lord Jesus was trying to say, do not vaunt yourself. You must seek God's will, His approval, His guidance, His well done, not your fellow man's. Lord, I in humbleness confess I stood upon my rights. In arguments, discussions, talks, I had to win the fights. Instead of me forgiving, putting another first, I clung to my own interest and secretly been cursed. My own prestige was paramount, thus I and only I, the one that had to be appeased, Thy child is satisfied. And thus when others did not please, when they stood in my light, when they obscured my place, dear Lord, I wished them out of sight. Oh, let me put Thee first, dear Lord, and then others in turn. Yes, let me from Thy gentleness on earth assert love. This love that can forgive does not behave itself unseemly. Now what does this mean? Of course it talks of riotous living, foolish babbling, superfluous naughtiness, all those things in Scripture, but we also have to be an example as believers, even if we're young like Timothy, and it is unseemly to crush another in an unseemly way instead of covering their offense with the love, the charity that covers. Because of bitterness and hate I lost my temper, Lord, as unforgiving I exclaimed, exploded, shouted, roared. Because of not forgiving I had reared a monster wild and cut my destiny to shreds, Thy sharp tongued, famed child. Dear Lord, I must retaliate, reply, react and spurn, for I have suffered wrongfully. Can't I scream back in turn? I can't be a near doormat to be trampled upon. I crave consideration. If not, my patience gone. But Thou was mocked so cruelly and hit with cruel force, disowned, despised, forsaken. Thy God appointed course. When on the crossing anguished, Thou saw the multitude. It was, Father, please forgive them. Thy love between them stood. The Christians were astonished at my actions uncontained. I cry to Thee for pardon. Thy name thereby was stated. Love seeketh not her own. It's very much not wanted itself seeketh not her own. Christ was a servant and we need to be servants. Not my rights, not my vindication, not my name to be honoured, not my prestige to be upheld. Paul said for me to live is Christ. For me to live is Christ. He should be the one that we seek to please. Self needs to be obscured otherwise we dim Christ's light. Because I did not hug my rights to vindicate right me, I found it easier to reach someone who had helped me. I found the person had a side I never guessed before and looking from another side I understood her more. Ah, let me not be blinded by my selfish love to please. Myself. Ah, let me rather another's heart at ease. Now love believeth all things. Gives a person the benefit of the doubt. Is not suspicious or condemnatory. Suspicion sells discord and it ruins reputations. It's also refreshing to meet people who are willing to believe the best in people. Love hopeth all things. Faith in a person, in a situation. You know, I really met a lady and it was such a sad story. She went morally bad. But she said when she was young, somebody said to her, with your looks, with your personality, with your figure, you will end up immoral. And she said, I thought to myself, why try? That's what is going to happen to me. Let me just do it. Now if somebody had said to her with your looks, with your personality, with your figure, you can be used by God if you are serenity and you can be used by God as a witness for him, a bright witness for him, how different her story might have been. Love hopeth all things. There was a young man who really was a recipe for disaster. He had the kind of personality and you know, his whole stature and everything just didn't look like a young man who would achieve. But he became the head of an enormous business and he was very successful. I visited the home of that man when he was still young and you know the whole family believed in that young man. They just believed that he would achieve in life. They just believed that he would do well. And when he failed and did wrong things and really acted not in a strong way, they just covered it with love. The love that hopeth all things and he did not disappoint their hope in him. Love hopeth all things and therefore is willing to cover. Love endureth all things. My granny endured my grandfather and forgave him for 40 years and God saved him. I remember a lady who believed in her daughter and stories were told and she wouldn't believe the stories and then she had to believe the stories but then she endured all things and she covered the actions of her love. And do you know what happened to that daughter? She found Christ. She found Christ because of the love of that mother. Someone who will believe the best until forced to admit the stories circulating unfortunately fit, will cause a fallen sister to feebly try to stand for even then she gives her hope by holding out her heart. Have we got that love? The love that can forgive. The love that can cover. Now when things have happened in our lives that are horrific that are brutal we need to leave vengeance to God. I just want to add this. If we have suffered cruelly at men's hands it is not for us to take up the cudgels and to do the fighting for for them it will be a fearful thing to land in the hands of the living God and they will. Have we been brutalized? Have we been hurt physically? There have been court cases and justly so. There has been imprisonment of the offenders and justly so. But they face a much more fearful judgment. The judgment of God. Don't let forgiveness be anathema to you. As Stephen sank beneath the stones that were cutting into him that killed him. He still had the grace to cry, Father forgive them. They don't know what they do. And the Lord Jesus did the same. Ask God to give that grace. It is not for us to take God's place. One day we all will stand before God and each of us will give account. And they will give account of what they have done. Let us trust God to deal with the offenders. Let us pity them because of what they're going to face. And God may still reach them as He reached the thief on the cross right at the end. Now let's recap. First of all we started with an angry and reactive Peter who said, seven is the limit Lord. I don't want to forgive and I don't think I should forgive beyond seven. Then we get the Lord Jesus turning to him and saying, seven Peter? Seventy times seven. Four hundred and ninety times. Because then Peter without knowing it, it will not be a burden to forgive anymore but a habit. It will not be a pain but a pleasure. And then we get the story of the servant who was forgiven but he wouldn't forgive another person. And God is saying to us is that you? I forgave you everything and you can't forgive your brother or your sister? I'm as angry as Peter. Patience gone long ago. Why should I keep forgiving others who've laid me low? You tasted my forgiveness. Your sins were cleansed by me. When you had stumbled, fallen, my blood atoned for thee. My hand was there to raise you. My love covered your fall. Can you withhold your mercy while you were pardoned all? And then why should we forgive? If not we face the wrath of God. Our health will suffer. Our mental state will suffer. We will have bitterness and our testimony will be marred. The doctor does not know the cause. My system comprehend for I have turned to bitterness. Joy from our heart it send. I find them very negative. Life is perpetual doom. Forgiveness trying to reach me. Is that your testimony? What enables me to forgive? It's the love from God as I surrender to him. The love that suffers long in the sky. The love that enviots not. The love that does not behave itself unseemly. That does not seek her own. That believeth, that hopeth, and that eventually endureth. Tis thou who can enable me to love and suffer, Lord. To hope, endure, show patience. Thyself through me be poured. To hope when all seems hopeless. Believe that someone can get up, stand up and triumph. A God empowered man. Enduring slights. To suffer knowing where life leads to. My hope in life eternal. The strength that pulls me through. To love and keep on loving. When others cry enough. The love that will not falter through onslaughts fierce and rough. The love that is forgiving. That covers others sin will be the one to triumph. Weak souls to woo and win. The divine cloak of forgiveness. A love charity that covers the multitude of sin with a divine embroidery on it. Dear Lord, it seemed impossible to love and to forgive. Another who had crippled me. She made life hard to live. I tried to care but still I saw a human enemy. Until some reasons came to light which were obscure to me. Her suffering and hardship. The trial she went through had robbed her of compassion, of kindness, patience too. I covered up her actions with love that understands. Instead of cross reactions I held out both my hands. Today we ask God bless to forgive us because we found it so hard to forgive. We have not been surrendered fully so his love could not rule in our hearts because we were choked with sorrow. We missed the divine embroidery and we refused to throw over others failures. The cloak that covers. And sadly we have to confess that we are in a mess physically, mentally, spiritually. Because bitterly we would not forgive. Dear Lord, I too like Peter found it hard to forgive. My brother, sister, failing that make life hard to live. Why should I show such patience? Why be a human saint when others are inhuman? My reputation taint. I have to teach them lessons. Point out their many flaws. Proclaim their misdemeanors. They disobey God's laws. Give back what they have given. Repay the hurt to me. I've been so patient thus far but no more leniency. For seven times I've tried forgiven despite pain. But seven is the limit. I'll not forgive again. Ah, child. You tasted mercy. Can yours so poetry be? Keep on. Keep on forgiving. If you would follow me I'll give you strength to do it. I'll hand out extra grace. But only if you're willing your vengeance to replace with love that sees the reasons behind each hurting word that reaches out in mercy with my compassion.