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word4U2day
2026-05-10
How many times should we forgive someone?
If God was only interested in right and wrong, He never would've wanted connection with us in the first place. God cares about more than principles. His first desire is relationship. Look at how He treats Peter in Matthew 18. First (we're paraphrasing here), Peter asks Jesus, 'how many times should I forgive someone? Is seven enough? After that, can I carry on hating them?' Then Jesus replies, 'There's no limit. If you're sincerely loving someone, you must keep your forgiveness generous and don't put a limit on it.'
Peter wants to get back to judging people through a tight lens of right and wrong. But Jesus tells him to drop that lens and only look at people with love. It turns out that Peter needed that lesson. Just months later, Peter promised Jesus that he would be the most faithful disciple and never deny Jesus. But he does. Three times, he denies Jesus. And then what does Jesus do? He pursues his broken, dejected friend, and restores Him to relationship. Because His first desire is relationship, not Peter acting right.
Of course, the behaviour matters, and rules do exist. But if our first care is for relationship and love, then we won't spend our time obsessively totting up sin counts and judging others. We'll forgive without limit, because we care about people before we care about their behaviour.
Links to Bible verses: Holy Bible
Figuring out life can be challenging. But, with this daily youth inspiration, we hope you will find the wisdom, courage, and insight you need to live out your faith in the real, messy world.
word4U2day is brought to you by I AM Youth in partnership with Celebration that also writes The Word for Today. The material is centred around youth Bible verses. It is designed to speak into certain circumstances and to encourage young people to find joy and peace. Your current circumstances do not need to define who you are.
word4U2day is available on www.iamyouth.co.za, via email and through our mobile app.
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