What do the numbers in the title above make you think
about? If you said a multiplication
problem, you would be correct. Here’s
another question to think about: What do
the words ‘seventy times seven’
mean to you? This question is intended to make you think but, Bible students
and scholars alike should be familiar with this phrase, which is a part of the
answer Jesus gave to His disciple Peter, when he asked Jesus about forgiving
his brother or sister: “At
that point Peter got up the nerve to ask, "Master, how many times do I
forgive a brother or sister who hurts me? Seven?" “Jesus
replied, "Seven! Hardly! Try
seventy times seven. (Matthew 18:21_Mess) Did Jesus mean that we
should forgive a brother or sister only 70 X 7 times? That would equal 490 and then
our duty to forgive - would be complete, wouldn’t it? Unfortunately, we don’t
get off that easy and Jesus hardly meant for us to forgive one another only
seventy times seven. Let’s go deeper and
look at Jesus’ answer in the King James Version: “Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, until seven
times: but, until seventy times seven.” (Matthew
18:22) What did Jesus mean by the word until? The word until is
defined by Webster-Merriam Online Dictionary and the English Thesaurus as: a function word to indicate continuance,
awaiting, pending, in anticipation of.
“Until seventy
times seven is: a certain number for an uncertain situation. Christ’s meaning is, that a man should be all
the days, and every day of his life, forgiving those that sin against him, as
often as they repent and acknowledge their fault; and that no time is to be
set for the exercise of the ‘grace’ of
forgiveness; but as often as there are objects and occasions, though
ever so many and frequent, it should be used; and He illustrates this in
the parable of the Unforgiving Servant in the same chapter.”[1]
Why is forgiving
others sometimes so difficult? There are
many reasons but, let’s consider these important points: 1. Satan [the devil] knows
that when we choose not to forgive others, we are only hurting ourselves and
prolonging personal misery. On the other
hand, when we do forgive others, we are actually blessed because, as we
acknowledge God as our vindicator, we are able to release the offender to the
Lord for judgment, and can be delivered from a bitter heart, which opens the
door for God’s peace. Jesus taught His
disciples how to pray using the ‘Model Prayer.’
Through praying this prayer, they were constantly reminded that as they asked
God to forgive them of their debts, they too should forgive others, who
trespassed against them. There would be no point in asking God to
forgive you if you did not forgive others.
Another important point is: 2. when we don’t forgive others, we are in
sin, which separates us from God and results in our fellowship with Him being broken. Nothing and no one is more important than our
fellowship with the Father, yet we sometimes justify our lack of forgiveness
toward others because of the severity
of the offense. Voices whisper in our
ear: “If I were you, I wouldn’t forgive him or her for what was done to
you. That was too much and I wouldn’t
take it if I were you!” Yet, God in His
great love and mercy gave His Only Begotten Son to die for us, when we were yet
in our offenses and His enemies. “But if we confess our sins (or offenses – emphasis mine) to Him, He
is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from our wrongs.” (1 John 1:9 NLT)
In my personal life,
I learned that not forgiving others only hurt me and that the offenders had no
clue that even after several months or maybe longer, I was still unglued about
what had been done to me. In my
ignorance, I was not resisting the devil and allowed him to mess with my mind,
which was not stayed on the Lord therefore; I was far from being in ‘perfect
peace.’ I was constantly rehearsing the
offenses done to me and wanted vindication because, it was sometimes so hard to
release those, who had caused me hurt. Finally, I discovered that, although, it was
not always easy, it was liberating, when I chose to release to God those, who hurt
me. Scripture tells us that God is not
(or will not be) mocked and we will reap what we sow (Galatians 6:9),
therefore, we can be assured that God will take care of those who have hurt us
(and we too will pay for hurting others). One thing I have learned about
vindication is that God does not always allow us to see our enemies fall but,
if He does, we must not rejoice or God will withhold His wrath. (Proverbs
24:17-18)
Some final thoughts to remember about
forgiveness:
- As long as we live, we should await and anticipate forgiving and being forgiven by others. “If we do not forgive others, our faith will not work and everything that comes from God-- comes by faith.” To receive freely from God, we must freely give to others. (Mark 11:26);
- Don’t give place to the devil by holding grudges. Give way to God, be quick to forgive and do not let the sun go down on your anger. (Ephesians 4:26-27) Forgiveness leads to healing; and last but not least:
As we do so, we can learn to love ourselves in healthier ways, let go of hurtful memories and painful events, while we anticipate a brighter future. By consistently applying ‘seventy times seven’ to our own lives, it becomes easier to acknowledge our personal frailties and seek God for His grace, mercy and wisdom to replace the guilt and self-hatred of a painful past with 'sincere forgiveness.'
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