Jehovah's Witnesses Straight Talk - Forum/Blog

October 09, 2019

“Why is walking in love as impossible as Peter walking on water, because we are conceived in sin, and we fall short of the glory of God, but it doesn't change the truth of love which is how God changes us by unmerited kindness.”

2 Corinthians 5:7 for we walk by faith, not by sight.

2 Corinthians 8:7 But as you abound in everything, in faith, utterance, knowledge, all earnestness, and in your love to us, see that you also abound in this grace.

Matt.18:21 Then Peter came and said to him, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Until seven times?"
18:22 Jesus said to him, "I don't tell you until seven times, but, until seventy times seven.

Matt.18:23 Therefore the Kingdom of Heaven is like a certain king, who wanted to reconcile accounts with his servants.
18:24 When he had begun to reconcile, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents.{Ten thousand talents represents an extremely large sum of money, equivalent to about 60,000,000 denarii, where one denarius was typical of one day's wages for agricultural labor.}
18:25 But because he couldn't pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, with his wife, his children, and all that he had, and payment to be made.
18:26 The servant therefore fell down and kneeled before him, saying, 'Lord, have patience with me, and I will repay you all!'
18:27 The lord of that servant, being moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt.
18:28 "But that servant went out, and found one of his fellow servants, who owed him one hundred denarii,{100 denarii was about one sixtieth of a talent.} and he grabbed him, and took him by the throat, saying, 'Pay me what you owe!'
18:29 "So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, 'Have patience with me, and I will repay you!'
18:30 He would not, but went and cast him into prison, until he should pay back that which was due.
18:31 So when his fellow servants saw what was done, they were exceedingly sorry, and came and told to their lord all that was done.
18:32 Then his lord called him in, and said to him, 'You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt, because you begged me.
18:33 Shouldn't you also have had mercy on your fellow servant, even as I had mercy on you?'
18:34 His lord was angry, and delivered him to the tormentors, until he should pay all that was due to him.
18:35 So my heavenly Father will also do to you, if you don't each forgive your brother from your hearts for his misdeeds."

Facts: Dr. Tom Farrow, a clinical psychologist from the University of Sheffield, in the United Kingdom, studied the effects of forgiveness on the brain. Using high definition magnetic resonance imaging, he and his colleagues scanned the brain, and found that when a person is forgiving there is an increase in activity in the frontal lobe of the brain, the zone also responsible for problem-solving and complex thought, or the higher functions of thinking and reasoning. Other studies of forgiveness have found it good for your heart.

One study from the Journal of Behavioral Medicine associated forgiveness with lower heart rates, lower blood pressure, and stress relief. Another from the University of Tennessee and University of Wisconsin, Madison, attributed forgiveness to fewer medically diagnosed chronic conditions and fewer physical symptoms from illness. (Facts by Therese J. Borchard)