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Bible Reading Plan

Reading Plan: 1 John 4:7-21

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.

God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

We love because he first loved us. Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.

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Daily Devotional: A Stitch in Time

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?” Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times. [Or seventy times seven].      

Matthew 18:21-22

My hand hit the ground first to break my fall on the stony patch beyond the grass. I felt blood on the football after I picked it up to pass it. Cut by a shard of a broken bottle, I neglected to go to the campus clinic until it was too late to stitch the raw flesh. The scar is still there on the heel of my right palm—55 years later. Imagine! Because of inaction, I have a permanent reminder. But with a stitch in time, the scar would have faded decades ago.

The same can be said for unforgiveness—it can become an emotional scar.  If we do not forgive, we carry the hurt, holding it tightly in our hearts, sometimes for years. Ignoring it or suppressing it often has a terrible impact. We can become distant and cold, rude and cruel—even keep score with the intent to take revenge. These negative behaviors are virtually guaranteed to interfere with how we relate to others. Jesus commands us to forgive. One benefit of doing so is that we don’t carry the hurt and the effects of holding a grudge into the future. That’s a blessing.

In today’s passage, Peter asks Jesus, “…how many times should I forgive…” Jesus answers, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times”(or seventy times seven). That seems impossible to count! Perhaps Jesus knows that if we intentionally follow him closely, we will, in time, be inclined to forgive others. Forgiving others will become our way of life. 

If you were a sensitive child, most likely your feelings were frequently hurt. As you grew up, you learned ways to cope or perhaps toughened up. How do Christ followers get the benefit of thicker skin without becoming callous, of being less sensitive to the pains and hurts of life caused by others, perhaps on purpose? Jesus says turn the other cheek when struck in the face and hand over your coat when sued for your shirt (Matthew 5:38-40). This way of life is a blessing. You will shrug off offenses.

Our stitch in time to prevent emotional scars will be a spiritual shrug of forgiveness and a mild, dismissive “oh well” much of the time. But in life, we face great suffering, pain, and loss caused by others. How is forgiveness given to these? The short answer is by adopting a forgiving lifestyle, so we are spiritually practiced in the small things for when the bigger things come our way. Pray for the heart to forgive. Be aware of the times you offend others. Quickly, ask their forgiveness. That will be a great blessing for both!

Next Steps

When doing a spiritual journal, pay attention to times you have reason to forgive someone. Then pray for grace and try to forgive them quickly.