"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." (Matthew 18:21-22 NIV)
"Lamech said to his wives, "Adah and Zillah, listen to me; wives of Lamech, hear my words. I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for injuring me. If Cain is avenged seven times, then Lamech seventy-seven times.(Genesis 4:23-24 NIV)
"But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins." (Matthew 6:15 NIV)
When I am disrespected, I am angry. When someone fails to yield when I want to change lanes in a hurry, I am angry. When a politician is arrested for corruption, stealing my taxpayer dollars, I am angry. And when I am angry I want someone to be punished. "How dare you disrespect me! I want to talk to your manager and have your job!" "You won't yield, then I will block you at the next intersection." "That politician that stole taxpayer money should go to jail."
You, like me, can get very indignant and righteous at times. However, the Spirit of God convicts me of my attitude easily. He just reminds me of the horror of the cross. You see, after being humiliated, beaten, whipped and striped naked to hang exposed on a cross, where He would slowly die of suffocation, Jesus was able to speak of His tormentors words of forgiveness: "Forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do." Really? What Jesus was saying was not that they did not know they were hurting others, but that they did not know they were hurting the Son of God.
So, when we hurt others or seek revenge to hurt others for some wrong done to us, we also don't know that we are doing this again to Jesus, the Son of God.
When Lamech told his wives that God must avenge him not seven time but seventy-seven times, or as the idiom suggests, never-ending vengence. Jesus took this Hebrew/Aramaic idiom and turned it on its head. Jesus tells us that when we are wronged we must forgive not seven times but seventy-seven times, or indefinitely. Jesus forgave from the heart while languishing on the cross; how can we do any less.
Pray: "Lord Jesus, when we act out in anger toward others, help us to understand that we are doing this to You. Help us Lord to love others as you love them."