Forgiveness vs. Gullibility

“‘Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?’

‘No, not seven times,’ Jesus replied, ‘but seventy times seven!’ (Matthew 18:21-22 NLT)

Jesus instructed us to forgive others, but he doesn’t ask us to be gullible. Forgiveness allows us to not retaliate or hold others accountable for past transgressions. It doesn’t require us to ignore what we have learned from previous experiences.

If a neighborhood dog bites me, I will try to avoid going near it in the future. In fact, if I see any dog that even resembles it, I will cross the street. If someone gives me counterfeit money once, I will be wary of any cash they give me in the future. In fact, I would probably look at every large bill carefully, no matter who handed it to me. Continuing to buy what someone is presenting--even when we suspect it is counterfeit--is simply foolish. Many of us want to give others the benefit of the doubt, even if we know they have manipulated us in the past. We want to trust, reconcile, and believe that we are worthy of being treated honorably. We allow others to continually exploit us. This is gullibility, not forgiveness.