Don’t Hold On To It!

Series: Beware of the Little Things 8/4/13 Peter knows first hand how easily offences come, and how difficult it is to overcome them. He is living with 12 guys who are not very sanctified. They are wrangling about all sorts of things, this chapter begins with them wanting to know who is greatest in the Kingdom. They are competing for power and recognition. Two of them, James and John, were hot tempered. Peter himself had foot in mouth disease. Thomas was a skeptic who questioned everything. Judas was stealing from the offering. They had many opportunities to offend each other.  And Peter is thinking, “there has got to be a limit to this forgiveness stuff --where do you draw the line?” This is the very reason a lot of people struggle with forgiveness: they don’t want to keep getting hurt. Peter is really stretching himself when he says, “how often shall we forgiven, seven times?” But Jesus corrects him,“no Peter, seven times seventy...” – Jesus didn’t just mean 490 times, as if we are to keep a running tally. He is pointing to infinity. To explain His point about forgiveness Jesus tells a parable about settling accounts. Unforgiveness is another one of those small foxes that destroy the vine. We think it is a small thing, but it has major consequences. This parable reveals to us some powerful principles about forgiveness.