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- Oct 26, 2007
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Then Peter came up and said to him, "Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?" Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times. Matthew 18:21-22 ESV
How many times do you forgive someone before cutting them out of your life? According to Jewish law at the time of Jesus, we should forgive someone three times. This comes from Old Testament passages in Amos and Job, where God forgave nations who oppressed Israel three times before bringing judgment against them.
When Peter doubled the number and added one, he likely thought he was being generous. But Jesus took Peter’s example to the extreme. We can easily remember if we’ve forgiven someone three or even seven times for some repeated offense, but to keep track of whether it’s been 486 times or 499 times seems ludicrous. Essentially, Jesus was telling His disciples to stop keeping track and to just keep forgiving from the heart.
God doesn’t stop at forgiving us 490 or 400,000 times; He just keeps forgiving us. Because we are forgiven, we are able to forgive others like Him—which is to say, every single time someone needs forgiveness.
Prayer: Father, help me forgive like You, not counting the times I’ve been hurt by someone’s sin, but remembering the countless times You’ve forgiven me.
How many times do you forgive someone before cutting them out of your life? According to Jewish law at the time of Jesus, we should forgive someone three times. This comes from Old Testament passages in Amos and Job, where God forgave nations who oppressed Israel three times before bringing judgment against them.
When Peter doubled the number and added one, he likely thought he was being generous. But Jesus took Peter’s example to the extreme. We can easily remember if we’ve forgiven someone three or even seven times for some repeated offense, but to keep track of whether it’s been 486 times or 499 times seems ludicrous. Essentially, Jesus was telling His disciples to stop keeping track and to just keep forgiving from the heart.
God doesn’t stop at forgiving us 490 or 400,000 times; He just keeps forgiving us. Because we are forgiven, we are able to forgive others like Him—which is to say, every single time someone needs forgiveness.
Prayer: Father, help me forgive like You, not counting the times I’ve been hurt by someone’s sin, but remembering the countless times You’ve forgiven me.
