"Seventy Times Seven"

Matthew 18:22 “Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.”

I’ve found that I’m the type of person who finds it more difficult to forgive someone who has wronged me, than to ask for forgiveness. I just find it so much easier to admit that I was wrong, than to be stubborn and refuse to apologize. I don’t apologize for the beliefs and values that I hold. However, I want to make right for the way I might have said those things. Even if I could have won the argument, how I got my message across will either encourage the other person or drag them down farther.

Sometimes though, it’s turned around. I have to forgive someone else. This is tricky. When that person has hurt me so deeply, that I ache for weeks on end, I have the hardest time forgiving them. I know what it’s like being on the end where a friend says one thing to your face and find out later, that they said something completely different to someone else. Usually, another close friend. This hurts. I have an option though. I can either silently forgive that friend, if they don't apologize, or live in anger for the rest of my life.

Matthew 6:15 “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.”

God wants us to love one another, just as Christ loved us. In my opinion, it’s impossible to love someone and not forgive them.

When Jesus was on the cross, He asked God to forgive them, for they didn’t know what they were doing.” (Luke 23:34).

Though they crucified Him, He forgave them.

God loves us; that is why He forgives us when we ask Him. God could just let us wander around in the dark, but because He cares for us so much and wants us to love and care for others, we must also forgive them as we are called to be Christ-like in this world.

Ephesians 4:32 “And be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.”

Are we called to love and forgive those who are (intentionally or unintentionally) hurting us?
Are we supposed to forgive a person over and over again, even if they do the same things to us time after time?
Would Jesus forgive them?

I believe the answer to all three of them is “yes”. We all sin and fall short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23)  God does not forgive us on occasion or when He feels like it. As humans though, forgiving a person who did us wrong, is sometimes what we would rather not do. It’s also not something that we can do on our own strength. God will give us that strength when we ask Him.
God encourages us to take a step forward and forgive..even if it means forgiving “..seventy times seven”.

God bless,
Anna

Proverbs 5:21