Today’s 333 Devotional: “Life’s Most Important Quality”

One of the main qualities of a healthy relationship is the ability to say, “I forgive you,” and mean it. It is the one quality that is the most important, but it is also the hardest quality to put into practice.

We’re all going to be hurt by someone, somewhere, and at some time. It may be something someone says, or a parent or friend’s broken promise, or it could be a spouse’s unfaithfulness. In fact, it could be many different things, or all of them put together.

These hurts may be verbal in what others say or non-verbal, when others turn their backs on us, or from a lack of affection.

But God offers unlimited forgiveness and says we need to do the same if we not only want to be forgiven by God, but also if we want to have hearts filled with forgiveness.

When Peter came to Jesus asking how often he should forgive someone who does something wrong, Jesus told him to do it for as long as it takes saying we are to forgive up to seventy time seven (Matthew 18:21-22).

Now Jesus wasn’t saying 490 times, rather He was saying that we are to forgive as long as it takes for forgiveness to take root within our hearts. And we’ll know when it no longer remember the wrong against that person, and it no longer eats our guts out when we see them or hear their names.

A forgiving heart is therefore what we need and what we’re after. But how do we obtain it? We obtain a forgiving heart only when we realize just how much God has forgiven us.

“And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:32)

When we consider everything that others have done to us, and then consider everything we’ve done to and against God and knowing that He’s forgiven us; forgiving others should be our natural response.