We need to forgive so that we can live our lives without disease, pain, and guilt!

 

Peter approached Jesus and asked him,

"Lord, if my brother sins against me,

how often must I forgive him?

As many as seven times?"

Jesus answered, "I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.

That is why the Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king

who decided to settle accounts with his servants.

When he began the accounting,

a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount.

Since he had no way of paying it back,

his master ordered him to be sold,

along with his wife, his children, and all his property,

in payment of the debt.

At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said,

'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.'

Moved with compassion the master of that servant

let him go and forgave him the loan.

When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants

who owed him a much smaller amount.

He seized him and started to choke him, demanding,

'Pay back what you owe.'

Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him,

'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.'

But he refused.

Instead, he had the fellow servant put in prison

until he paid back the debt.

Now when his fellow servants saw what had happened,

they were deeply disturbed,

and went to their master and reported the whole affair.

His master summoned him and said to him, 'You wicked servant!

I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to.

Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant,

as I had pity on you?'

Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers

until he should pay back the whole debt.

So will my heavenly Father do to you,

unless each of you forgives his brother from his heart."

When Jesus finished these words, he left Galilee

and went to the district of Judea across the Jordan.

~Matthew 18:21–19:1

We need to forgive so that we can live our lives without disease, pain, and guilt! We as humans need to learn to forgive each other. Jesus spoke of this a lot! Forgiveness is the greatest act of love and mercy we as humans can show each other. Jesus did it and we are also called to forgive. Do you know that when we do not forgive, or if we hold resentment, disdain, hate, or other strong emotional feelings toward others without forgiving others, it causes disease, pain, and guilt, maybe even cancer. God gave us Jesus as our model, our example of how to live, He wants us to love each other, to forgive others, to show mercy. This Bible verse today is a great reminder for all of us, about forgiving, we need to forgive, it is the most important act of love we can perform! My spouse and I know someone now who has cancer, she will not forgive her husband for an infidelity issue from many years ago, she has held on to this for many years, it has put such a strain on their marriage and now she has cancer, she has so much hate, resentment, and aggression toward her spouse and others. She really needs to learn to forgive, to find it in her heart to do so. It is hard to do, but Jesus calls us to do just that, forgive! When we don't it will make us sick! Please read this Bible verse, please learn to forgive, please love like Jesus, as love always wins over hate! Forgiveness gives us the freedom we need to live our lives with true love, it gives us hope, and makes us more like Jesus!