Today's Reading
Matthew 18:21–22
One of the most powerful lessons Jesus ever taught was on forgiveness. He gave it because Peter approached Jesus and asked, “Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?”
I have a sneaky suspicion Peter had someone in mind that he had already forgiven six times. He just might have been ready to write that person off. Whether or not, he was looking for a formula.
Jesus says, “No, not seven times. Seventy times seven.”
You know I am not good at math, but I can figure out this equation. The answer is 490. The way I read it, this means we are to forgive the same person 490 times each day. That is a lot of forgiving to do. At a rate of one act of forgiveness every three or so minutes, you could spend an entire day just forgiving someone!
But this is not about numbers. Jesus was giving us a new math formula, a new set of truths for us to walk in forgiveness. The first truth is this: Forgiveness is not about keeping score. It’s about losing count.
We are all going to get hurt in some way. Your spouse will let you down. Someone might gossip about your marriage. Someone might steal your money. Someone might steal your husband. Someone may have abused you. Someone may have harmed your child.
While getting hurt is reality, getting and staying bitter is a reaction. We must live a lifestyle of constant forgiveness. This is not about satisfying the requirements of a mathematical equation. We must forgive. All the time.
The Big Idea: Stop keeping score and start losing count.
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