Second Chances

Second Chances 

“Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭18:21-22‬

How many chances do we really deserve, versus how many we really get?

That could be answered two ways really. 

Some people feel they deserve many many chances in life. When in actuality, we don’t deserve any. But because Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins, we were given the biggest chance of all. And because we were given that chance, we are to forgive and give, many many chances. 

I used to hold grudges. Badly. If I believed someone wronged me, my loyalty was to hold a grudge against them. This grudge usually meant to cut them off completely. And when I say cut, I mean sever all ties with that person. It was extreme. I developed a mechanism of separation that protected me personally and emotionally. I couldn’t forgive. I wouldn’t forgive. 

I can’t imagine my wife having the same stupid mentality I used to have. Especially when I wronged her so terribly.  Can you imagine if she severed everything? I can’t. 

Things change when you meet Jesus.  Especially when you get know Him like I have over the past three years.  The changes aren’t immediate.  Maybe in some people or in some areas of our lives.  Changes might occur more quickly, but not in me.  It’s like watching water boil. The longer you watch it, the longer it takes.  It’s the same with wanting to see the changes in yourself. The harder you try, the longer it seems to take. 

It’s the same with how I viewed forgiveness.  And it’s why I was so amazed at how people could forgive someone else so easily.  Maybe some just say it. Or maybe some truly have developed what Christ intended for us. 

That’s what a second chance is, forgiveness.  For. Give. It’s for us to give. We are to give someone else another chance. Whether that chance is trust, love, respect, kindness or anything else - it is for us to give to them.  Giving someone a chance at something, especially something for nothing, is a blessing. 

We aren’t owed a second chance at reconciliation.  And we aren’t owed blessings. We are owed spiritual separation from God because we sin like crazy. It’s Jesus Christs death that forgave our sin and reconciled us back to God. That was our second chance, because of what Jesus gave to us.  It was a gift we didn’t deserve. 

Forgiveness is FOR us to GIVE to someone else.  See it now?

To forgive someone is the ultimate in second chances. And we are commanded by Christ to forgive as many times as our brother sins against us - seventy times seven times actually. 

I truly feel forgiveness is an act of Christ. Something that we will work a lifetime to master.  Even Jesus told God to forgive everyone who wronged Him and nailed Him to the cross at Calvary. In the moment before He would die, he forgave them. All of them. For everything they did. Not just to Him, but the whole world. 

“Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” And they divided His garments and cast lots.”

‭‭Luke‬ ‭23:34‬

Second chances are powerful. They are powerful for the person giving the chance and powerful for the one who is given the second chance.  You are only truly given a second chance if you take it and make something of it. Otherwise it’s never a second chance, especially if you waste it.

I spent my entire life wasting what Christ gave everyone, a second chance.  Although I can’t change that. I’m not sure I would want to. 

I have seen my wife’s faith grow into something amazing and beautiful. I’ve seen our twelve year old son turn his life to Christ.  I’ve talked to so many Christians and I’ve had hours and hours of conversations about Jesus. I’ve seen blessing after blessing after blessing. I’ve witnessed God at work in ways most would never believe, even Christians. 

A second chance is something you have to grab ahold of. You may be given many many chances in your life, but there is one that you can’t miss out on. That chance, is a matter of life and death.  Turning you life over to Christ, to let Him lead your life and to live like Christ - is your ultimate second chance. 

After that, we live in that second chance by not squandering it away. We live to show how much that second chance means to us so that others can see Jesus in us.  Our second chance is not deserved.  It’s not owed. And we may be given a second chance that may look nothing like what we think we deserve.  It doesn’t matter. It’s not what we receive, it is what we give that makes the difference in who we are.  It is FOR us to GIVE. Remember that. 

And because we have been given that chance, we pay it forward, over and over and over again.  We can never hold back in our forgiveness of others. We don’t hold that right. Our mere lives were a second chance, a gift. We live to fulfill the forgiveness that has been given to us. 

Our lives are a gift from God. Our eternal life is a gift from Jesus Christ. He paid our debt for us. It is forgiven. 

Make the most of your second chance. And as many of us, like me, will need many more chances, remember how important forgiveness was to Jesus. Remember how you were forgiven when you needed forgiveness.  We don’t hold the right not to forgive. It is not ours to hold back.  What would Christ do?  What did Christ do?

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭6:23‬

“Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”

‭‭Colossians‬ ‭3:12-17‬