Forgiving Our Brothers - How Far do we go?

"How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!" Psalm 133:1

"Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, 'Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?'
Jesus answered, 'I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times...'" Matthew 18:21-22

My friends today's devotion focused on the above passages. It focused on forgiveness of our brothers. But was Jesus concerned only with the treatment of our siblings when he says brothers? No, brothers is a broad term that represents everyone we come in contact with. We are to forgive anyone who harms us or does wrong by us. Also, seventy-seven really should be translated to seventy times seven, in essence never stop forgiving.

Sometimes, okay a great many times, this is hard to do. We want to hold on to that grievance against another, that hurt that was done against us. We feel we are justified to do so because of the hurt inflicted upon us. But think to yourself what God has done for you. The wrongs done against us are nothing compared to the sins we commit as we turn our back on God.

The author of my devotion titled today's entry "Oh, Brother". He tells a story of being a kid and having his older brother carefully take the hinges out of his bedroom door so that the next time it was opened it would fall on his head. He prefaces this comment with that fact that now you would never know how devious his brother was as a youngster. We all do mischievous stuff as kids. Some of us more than others, and some of us take the brunt of those activities.

This brought back fond memories of my childhood. How, you might ask, could mischief committed against me as a child trigger fond memories? Shouldn't I be bitter and angry, holding resentment towards my brothers? Here are just a few examples that really stick out in my head of the mischief my two older brothers committed as we grew up:

• Many a Easter morning I woke up to only black jelly beans in my Easter basket while the other kids had all the flavors. Why was I treated differently by the Easter Bunny I wondered. Years later I found out that my brothers would go down early and take the good candy from my basket and pass it to their basket.
• My parents had gone out and my older brothers decided to play some football in the house. Well, a pass sailed over the dining room table and one of them made a spectacular dive to attempt to grab the ball. Boom, table on the floor broken. But my brothers were masters of planning. They crafted a plan to have me drop my books on the dining room table the next day after school (as I always did) and have the table crash to the floor as they meticulously set up the scenario, placing the legs just right to hold the weight of the table top until this occurrence. The would have successfully implemented this plan had my parents not gotten back early from their outing.
• We lived next door to my aunt and uncle and on occasion my grandmother would babysit my cousins at their house. Grandma was always good for a dollar for every good report card we brought home and so my mom thought we should head over to my aunt's house to thank my Grandma. So I started running down the hill on our street. Unbeknown to me my older brother had hopped on my sister's bike and decided to play a little game of chicken with me. Only he didn't let me in on the fact that we were playing. Yep, head bleeding, my back littered with cuts and bruises, I looked for my dollar that I dropped never to find it. Years later (in our twenties) my brother finally fessed up to grabbing my dollar.

But you may be asking about my comment above stating these as fond memories. Looking back I can only laugh as I picture them doing these things. My brothers were incredibly smart.  I now have an incredible love for black jelly beans I may never have known had it not been for my brothers. You  have to admire the thought process that went into the table incident and as for the dollar, the great times my brother and I have had since are worth way more than just one dollar. I consider that payment up front for the many great times we have shared since.

I got picked on a lot as a kid. I was scrawny and shy, a perfect mix for others to take advantage. My mom always told me I was picked on because they loved me. I always wondered how that could be, but looking back it is true. And without those incidents I may not have been able to learn the lesson of forgiveness as quickly and easily as I did.

I love my brothers and consider them amongst my best friends. Along with my younger brother, the four of us have some great times. We get together twice a year for charity golf tournaments, not because we love golf or are even that good at it, but because it gives us an opportunity to be together. We share emails with each other and a lot of inside jokes. We have a bond that will never be broken, even in times of great stress we may get angry but we always forgive and move on.

If I were still holding a grudge for the mischief my brothers did when they were younger I would be missing out on so much happiness now.


Our life here is short, forgive and forget as God does for us over and over again. Share that gift of forgiveness with others and see how much joy it brings to your life. Pray often for God to give you the strength to forgive and move on. Prayer for your brothers to do the same. Pray that you will continue to be blessed with love and good times without past grudges getting in the way.

God Bless you on this Friday!