Checking in With Michelle Williams, a 5-Day DevotionalExemplo

One of my favorite questions from the Bible came from a guy named Peter. He was one of Jesus’ closest friends and followers. One day, they were all kicking it, and Peter went up to Jesus and was like, “So, how do we know when to forgive?”

Don’t you do that with your parents? Or didn’t you when you were growing up? You have a specific situation in mind, and you don’t really want to go into detail, so you ask a general question like that. Like, “Hypothetically, Jesus, let’s say someone has wronged me. How would I go about handling that?” . . .

We don’t know the situation; all we know is that Peter wanted answers: “Then 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 NIV).

Jesus was so cool, though. He didn’t get flustered or roll his eyes. He’s like, “Seven’s a good number. But what about seventy times seven?” (v. 22, my paraphrase). . . .

Jesus was basically saying that Peter wasn’t asking the right question. Peter didn’t understand the concept of forgiveness. It’s not a feeling. It’s not something you do because you want to. It’s not even something you do because God told you to. It’s something you do to live the best version of your life.

Jesus was so serious about forgiveness that he modeled it for us to the greatest extreme. How far should we go? When should we forgive? What is it worth? Jesus went so far as to give up his life. He exchanged his life for the dirty rags of our sins just so we could experience God’s complete forgiveness.

If you’ve never heard that before, it is my genuine honor to say it: Jesus died for you. For everything you’ve done and everything you will do. When he looks at you, he doesn’t see the screwups, the mistakes, the failures. He sees perfection. He sees someone worth saving. Someone worth dying for.

If you’ve never checked in with Jesus and asked him to be a bigger part of your life, asked him to forgive you, asked him to be your Savior, I pray right now that you’d do that.

Talk about a check-in to remember!

Prayer

Lord, thank you for forgiving me. Please help me to freely forgive others. Amen.

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