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A lesson in forgiveness
My wife and I were preparing to go out. During the course of getting ready I acted in a more self-centered manner than I would have wished. This resulted in a pointed rebuke from my wife and I reacted badly. I thought, “I may not have been quite in order, but surely nothing I did deserved a rebuke.” I felt absolutely furious but continued to say nothing.
My wife and I then left to begin our journey to Central London, where we were to attend a talk for the public on Christian Science, which was being organized to coincide with the 2012 Summer Olympics.
The journey involved travel by car, train, and the underground. When we arrived at the railway station, I was still very unhappy but was endeavoring as best as I could to find my peace and let go of the bitterness I was feeling. As I was sitting quietly on my own, waiting for the train, thinking all this through, and praying to find some peace, completely out of the blue came the words “seventy times seven” (Matthew 18:22). I immediately recognized them as being part of Christ Jesus’ instruction to his disciples when he was asked by Peter how many times he should forgive a brother who had sinned against him. I thought to myself, “Seventy times seven. That is nearly 500 times. Wow! That’s a tremendous amount of forgiving.” My next thought was, “Well, I can certainly forgive my wife.” With that, the feelings of bitterness, resentment, and anger that had been bothering me instantly vanished.
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