End your story right

Mercy and forgiveness should be a limitless act.

21 Then Peter approaching asked him, “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him? As many as seven times?” 22 [a]Jesus answered, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times. 23 That is why the kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who decided to settle accounts with his servants. 24 [b]When he began the accounting, a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount. 25 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. 26 [c]At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.’ 27 Moved with compassion the master of that servant let him go and forgave him the loan. 28 When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a much smaller amount.[d] He seized him and started to choke him, demanding, ‘Pay back what you owe.’ 29 Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’ 30 But he refused. Instead, he had him put in prison until he paid back the debt. 31 Now when his fellow servants saw what had happened, they were deeply disturbed, and went to their master and reported the whole affair. 32 His master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to. 33 Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant, as I had pity on you?’ 34 Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers until he should pay back the whole debt.[e] 35 [f]So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives his brother from his heart.”-Matthew18:21-35

Jesus' parable said it right. How absurd, isn't it, that when we have wronged others and ask for their forgiveness, we expect to be forgiven - right away if possible. When we have wronged God by committing a sin, we want to be forgiven. However, if there is a reversal of roles, and we are the ones wronged and being asked that we forgive others, we find it very difficult. Sometimes, we do not forgive at all.

Last year I watched a TV series about a wronged wife. Husband enters an affair. Wife finds out about it. Wife wants a temporary separation. Husband does not want the separation, begs for another chance and is willing to end his affair with his mistress. Now wife's dilemma is, should she forgive her husband and give him another chance, or should she push through with the separation (or divorce to some)? So many women said, "Give him another chance" while others said, "Let him go. There are better men out there anyway." I want to say to those women in the last category, "Mercy and forgiveness should be a limitless act. If God can forgive and give many chances again and again, we too can forgive and give many chances again and again. If God can forgive somebody with sincere and humble heart, who are we not to forgive somebody who asks for our forgiveness with a sincere and humble heart?" Once, I begged for mercy, forgiveness and another chance. But they did not give it to me. So now I know how it is like to beg and not be forgiven. Let us then be generous if we want others to be generous to us as well.

Image courtesy: artist