I can remember growing up loving to play card games.  I loved playing games.  It made me very competitive.  I hated to lose. I didn’t like not being able to play another game.  And many times, especially if I was playing with my parents right before bed, I would say, “Come on mom/dad, just one more game”.  And I know you have probably heard this from your kids or maybe you have said it yourself.  “Come on, just one more game.”  I know even as an adult I have heard other adults say, “Just one more game.”

So I am thinking of how this little phrase applies to every day life.  (I am not insinuating life is a game. I just feel the phrase is fitting for 2nd chances.)  Then I remembered my pastor telling a story.  He said, “Would we be willing to give someone just one more chance?”  He was referencing saving a marriage.  But I want to take this thought a little bit further.  Would we be willing to give anyone another chance to make a relationship work? Let forgiveness work by way of Holy Spirit.  Have faith in the Holy Spirit and show mercy with a cheerful heart.  Let the Holy Spirit work on the other person.

Better yet, if I choose to forgive someone and show mercy to this person walking in the way of grace and the Gospel of Jesus, which is the Christian way and mandate, I free myself of the evil and bitterness that can set itself in my life. For Ephesians 4:32 states, “And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.” And also in teaching us to pray, Jesus says in Matthew 6:12, “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.”  There is freedom for me when I forgive.

What does forgive mean? To give up resentment of; to grant relief from payment; to cease to feel resentment from or to an offender; to grant a pardon; and finally one last definition:stop feeling angry or resentful towards (someone) for an offence or mistake. (Concise Oxford English dictionary (11th ed.)).  Do you feel someone owes you? They owe you an explanation?, money?, an apology? Or maybe they don’t owe you anything but they forgot you? or left you? or mistreated you? or said the wrong thing? or just were not there when you needed them? Maybe they don’t understand what you want? I know life is not a game like playing cards or pool or table tennis.  But life is about giving people second, third, fourth,…, tenth chances and maybe more.  Matthew 18:22 tells us we should forgive “up to seventy times seven”.  Are we willing to turn the other cheek? Are we willing to say, “Just one more game”? Is your marriage worth it? Is a life dream of getting to know someone worth it? Is a friendship worth it? Is letting someone see Jesus in you worth it? I think it is.  I know it is.  Just one more game, Please!

Scripture references:

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

2. Matthew 6:9-15 “9 In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. 10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors. 13 And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. 14 “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”

3. Matthew 18:21-35 “21 Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” 22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven. 23 Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. 25 But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made. 26 The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, ‘Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ 27 Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt. 28 “But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, ‘Pay me what you owe!’ 29 So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ 30 And he would not, but went and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt. 31 So when his fellow servants saw what had been done, they were very grieved, and came and told their master all that had been done. 32 Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. 33 Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?’ 34 And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him. 35 “So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.”

4. Mark 12:28-33 “28 Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, “Which is the first commandment of all?” 29 Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one. 30 And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. 31 And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” 32 So the scribe said to Him, “Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth, for there is one God, and there is no other but He. 33 And to love Him with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

The New King James Version.