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PRAYER FOR THE WEEK

Jesus, help me appreciate new and different things - like forgiveness! Amen.

Peter asked, "Lord, if someone hurts me, how many times should I forgive them? Seven?" "No, 77 times!" Jesus answered. Then He told this story: "A man owed a king money and couldn't pay. The king forgave him. Then the man went to a servant who owed HIM money, and said, 'Pay me!' When the servant couldn't, the man put him in jail. The king heard this and told the man, 'I forgave you, but you wouldn't forgive him!' And he threw the man in jail."

When people from other countries come to America, they're often amazed at all the kinds of food in stores. We don't just have potato chips; we have 100 brands and flavors. We never stop trying to make something old into something new and different!

If that's true for the food on our shelves, it should definitely be true for our relationships. In this week's Gospel (Matthew 18:21-35), Jesus reminds us to never stop trying to make connections with people more positive.

A lot of kids have favorite foods and don't want to try anything new. You like barbecue chips; why even taste some funky new flavor? People can act like that with each other, too: Once you've decided you don't like someone, why forgive them anything?

In the Gospel story, a man makes one mistake and is forgiven - but he doesn't turn around and forgive someone who hurts him. He hasn't learned the "forgiving 70 times seven" lesson, which is really about forgiving as many times as it takes to settle things.

You don't have to love every food on the shelf, but it's good to be thankful that we have so many kinds to try when many people are lucky to have food at all. God doesn't force you to forgive everyone, either; it's your choice. But, like appreciating different foods, trying something new and different like forgiveness can put a whole new taste in your mouth![[In-content Ad]]

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