9 November

Today’s the day when in 1989 East Germany opened the Berlin Wall, allowing travel from East to West Berlin for the first time in decades. The following day, celebrating Germans began to tear the wall down. One of the ugliest and most infamous symbols of the Cold War was soon reduced to rubble that was quickly snatched up by souvenir hunters.

We are probably all glad to be without the Berlin Wall but it’s all too easy for us to build our own barriers between ourselves and other people. One of the easiest ways to do that is when we hold a grudge against someone who has offended us, especially if they have upset us more than once. Let’s listen to a conversation between Jesus and Peter on this subject, recorded in Matthew chapter 18:

Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister when they sin against me? Up to seven times?"
Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.

When he said that, Jesus didn’t mean, ‘start counting until someone has sinned against you 70 times 7’. He meant, ‘stop counting and start forgiving.’