Matthew 18:21: “Then Peter came to Him and said, ‘Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?'”

January 16th, 2022 by Pastor Ed in devotional

The rabbis of that day taught that forgiveness was a limited resource. So like all other good Jews, Peter had been taught that you should forgive, but only up to a certain point. No doubt he thought he was being very generous by offering to forgive someone 7 times. Peter is not much different than the rest of us who often act like there should be a limit to our forgiveness, until eventually we don’t forgive anymore. Jesus’ answer, however, represented a revolutionary change in the way people thought about forgiveness—we should forgive not just 7 times, but 70 times 7. Peter was probably trying to do the math, but Jesus interrupted his thought by telling him a parable about not keeping count but just forgiving. Jesus was trying to help Peter understand that we must extend limitless forgiveness to one another because that’s the kind of forgiveness God extends to us.

Our heavenly Father is not keeping count of the number of times we come to Him for forgiveness. He just continues to forgive us each and every time. He doesn’t erase the consequences that our sins may have set in motion, but He does promise to keep on forgiving, if we will keep on confessing and repenting. There is of course this wonderful added byproduct. When we truly forgive someone who has wronged us, it is one of the most freeing feelings that we can experience. It frees us from the mental prisons we get locked up in by harboring resentment, anger, and the desire for revenge. Forgiving frees us from that person’s actions against us and allows our healing to begin. But most of all, our heavenly Father forgives us when we forgive others. Eighteenth century British General James Oglethorpe once told John Wesley, “I never forgive and I never forget.” Wesley gently replied, “Then, Sir, I hope you never sin.”

“LORD, thank You for forgiving us. We chose to be like You today and follow Your example by forgiving those who have sinned against us.”