Matthew 18:21-22 (NIV) Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.

Jesus made very clear to His disciples the great importance of forgiving others. He made it clear that if we don’t forgive others, our Heavenly Father will not forgive us (Matthew 6:15). After Jesus spoke the words of the passage of scripture above, He told the parable of the servant who owed the king a huge amount of money, which would be impossible for him to ever pay. The king was about to sell him and his family to get some of the money back when the servant begged for mercy. The king had mercy and forgave him all of that tremendous amount of debt. I figured out the what the sum would be in today’s economy and it worked out to about fifty-one billion dollars. This same servant, as the parable in Matthew 18 continues, then goes out and has a fellow servant thrown in jail because he couldn’t pay him back. In today’s economy and taking the higher end of what a day’s wage would be, the fellow servant owed him about fifteen thousand dollars. Th king heard about it and had the servant that he had pardoned thrown in jail and tortured until he could pay back all that he owed, which he would never be able to do. That’s pretty serious. That’s how God feels about it.

So the question that the disciple asked Jesus about how many times he should forgive someone was answered and we are left with figuring out if that is a literal seventy-seven times or if that was just Jesus’ way of saying we must always forgive. I have gotten that question a lot from a lot of people. I think that most people want to believe that there is a limit to how many times you need to forgive a person who has wronged you. But I say that we shouldn’t worry about such a question. Let’s just take what Jesus said literally. So from now on, get a ledger and write down how many times you have forgiven the same person; you know, that same person that is constantly getting under your skin. Just forgive him or her and then mark it down. When you have done that seventy-seven times, you can stop. But the reality is, we never have to forgive someone that many times. Then if someone somehow ever does reach their limit, you will have practiced forgiving them so many times that it will have become a part of who you are. In other words, you will have become like Jesus, which happens to be the goal of our faith while we are here on earth. We should look like Him more and more each day and that transformation happens as we obey what He said. You will have also learned that forgiveness is a gift that God gives to you because it keeps you from resentment and bitterness, which are two things that can ruin your life.

When it comes to forgiveness, just do it. Do it for the sole reason of Jesus having forgiven you fifty-one billion times...and counting. You will be living in obedience to the words of Jesus, which will make you like the wise man who built his house on the rock, and you will be blessed with peace and joy that no one can rob or take away. Just do it seventy-seven times for each person that wrongs you. God will take it from there.

Pastor Joey Vazquez