People sometimes think that some of the sayings of Jesus are 'too difficult', or are not really meant for the 'average Christian'. Maybe the root of this problem is that we haven't got a large enough sense of gratefulness to God, because we haven't realised just how much He loves us and has done for us. Of course, we will never fully grasp it, because He is God and there is no limit to His love and mercy and forgiveness. Yet in our relationships with other people (and maybe with God too), we do make limits of our own. It's not just that we being human are limited anyway. We also tend to set tighter limits, for instance about whom we will love, or forgive, about how much we will give either in return for favours received or freely from our own hearts. But in fact the limits we put on our relationships with others, and with God too, only serve to make our own hearts smaller and unable to take in all that God and other people want to give us. "The amount you measure out is the amount you will be given back", was how Jesus put it. His gospel is a call to be generous and open-hearted: what does it matter if sometimes people trick us or fool us into treating them lovingly and well? What does it matter if someone is ungrateful to us, or worse? The model and inspiration for our dealings with others is God Himself.