Then Peter came up and asked him, "Lord, how often am I to forgive my brother if he goes on wronging me? As many as seven times?" Jesus replied, "I do not say seven times; I say seventy times seven."
Seventy times seven? Really? That is 490 times! Can you imagine someone actually counting the number of times they have forgiven you? I can just see it now, my husband Chris telling me that I was nearing the end of his limit for forgiving me, or our children, our neighbors, or our God family.
Bishop Goodpaster reflected upon this text during one of the Bible studies he led at Annual Conference. He says that if you are having to count the number of times you are forgiving someone, then it is not really forgiveness. Love keeps no track of wrongs!
I know that I too was guilty of saying: "I can forgive them but will never forget." My mother helped me understand this better when she suggested that as long as you cling to the memory, the anger it created, or the hurt feelings, you have still given them control over you which means you have not really forgiven them. Right or wrong this might be, it made sense.
Let us be a people of mercy and grace; justice and forgiveness, patience and love. Afterall, it is what God does for us each and every moment of our lives.
Through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, you are forgiven.
Amen
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