I’m not sure how many little hearts there are in this Valentine but let’s use it as an example. Not 490, for sure but just imagine each one of them is an expression of forgiveness.
Peter asked Jesus about forgiveness. Obviously, someone had offended Peter and he wanted to know how often he had to forgive.
“Then Peter came to Jesus and said, ‘Lord, how many times may my brother sin against me and I forgive him, up to seven times?’ 22 Jesus said to him, ‘I tell you, not seven times but seventy times seven! ‘” Matthew 18:21-22 NLV
Seven is a very significant number in the Bible. It is the number of completion so I’m sure that Peter must have thought that forgiving 7 times would be more than enough.
Jesus told Peter that seven wasn’t enough. He needed to forgive the offender as much as 70×7, or 490 times. Jesus wasn’t referring to the actual number of 490 and when offended for the 491st time Peter no longer had to forgive. Instead, it did not matter how great the offence, forgiveness was still required.
Let’s take that number, 490, and apply it literally. With 24 hours in a day, that would mean that we must be willing to forgive about 20 times an hour or once every 3 minutes. Seriously?!
Oh Lord, do you really expect us to forgive that often? His answer is yes!
We are to live a life where forgiveness is abundant. Jesus even prayed to forgive those who were responsible for crucifying him.
“Then Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them. They do not know what they are doing.’” Luke 23:34 NLV
It was a part of everything He did. When Jesus was teaching his disciples to pray he included forgiving and forgiveness in that model prayer. You remember he said, “Forgive our sins, just as we have forgiven those who did wrong to us.” Matthew 6:12 ERV
Now for all of you who might be tempted to keep track and start counting we have been given teaching on that too.
“ Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous, it does not brag, and it is not proud. 5 Love is not rude, it is not selfish, and it cannot be made angry easily. Love does not remember wrongs done against it. 6 Love is never happy when others do wrong, but it is always happy with the truth. 7 Love never gives up on people. It never stops trusting, never loses hope, and never quits.” I Cor. 13:4-7 ERV
I’m so glad that I didn’t write this. I sometimes rationalize and make excuses for not being more forgiving, but God removes all that. I am so glad He does because if I could justify my lack of forgiveness, He certainly would have reason to in judging me for my actions.
Thank you Lord that you don’t! Thank you that You freely give your forgiveness to all of us. Lord, we desire to be more like you. Remind us of the 490 so that we can see just how much You are willing to forgive us each day. Your love never gives up on us. We want to be like you.
“ You were spiritually dead because of your sins and because you were not free from the power of your sinful self. But God gave you new life together with Christ. He forgave all our sins. 14 Because we broke God’s laws, we owed a debt—a debt that listed all the rules we failed to follow. But God forgave us of that debt. He took it away and nailed it to the cross.” Colossians 2:13-14 ERV
Thank you, Lord, that You quit counting. Thank you that You forgave all!
