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Key Bible Verse: Who can say, Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other 1 John 4:11). Bonus Reading: 1 John 4:11-14

Friends of ours grew up in the church and have a fine house, sweet kids, and good jobs. But the wife has an emotional/mental problem. She periodically steals from her own family and gambles the money away.

She's been to counselors, doctors, and pastors. Nothing helps permanently. Imagine your own wife stealing from you, pawning objects of value, withdrawing money from bank accounts intentionally (but not infallibly) denied her, and lying about it for months.

Every time she's stolen from her husband and ruined his future, he's forgiven her and taken her back. Even when she gave up on her own life and tried to kill herself, he refused to give up on her.

I asked this husband once why he didn't end this marriage. He'd had pressure from many friends and family to do so. His words were courageous and simple: "She is a good mother most of the time. My children need her. But more than that, they need to know the love of their God. How can they know of a Father in heaven who forgives them if their own father won't forgive their own mother?"

—Bryan Chapell in The Wonder of It All

My Response: How does the extent of God's forgiveness affect how I relate to those who wrong me?

Thought to Apply: Love is a free gift. And it is most itself, most free when it is offered in spite of suffering, of injustice, and of death. —Archibald MacLeish (lawyer turned poet)

Adapted from The Wonder of It All (Crossway, 1999) by permission.

Copyright © 2007 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine.Click here for reprint information on Men of Integrity.

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Prayer for the Week

Lord, this week enlarge my comprehension of, and appreciation for, Your self-giving love.

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