My devotional book, What a Great Word, takes common words in Scripture and strives to redefine the words we imagine we know well. A word I keep relearning is “forgiveness”. More often than not, it comes about when I realize I have fallen short of what I hope to be, disappointed someone I care about, and find myself in need of forgiveness.
Matthew 18:21-22 says, “Lord, when my fellow believer sins against me, how many times must I forgive him? Should I forgive him as many as seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you, you must forgive him more than seven times. You must forgive him even if he wrongs you seventy times seven.”
Wait a minute! Could that be right? Could it be true that if someone intentionally hurts you, you need to forgive them, not just once, but 490 times? You probably don’t keep a count of how many times you’ve forgiven someone, even if they are a repeat offender. In fact, you may have replayed the offense so many times in your head that you can’t actually remember what really happened. The problem is that you stopped counting, but you also stopped forgiving in the same moment. Friends, family, and other human beings are accountable for every thoughtless action from rude behavior to despicable behavior, but forgiveness is still worth considering.
At some point, we must move past the hurt, past the event that grieves our spirit and consider forgiveness. Maybe it helps to look at our personal relationship with God. Could we imagine we may have offended God by our actions at least once? Twice? Maybe even 490 times? If you’ve been on this planet more than 490 days, chances are good you’ve offended God by sins of omission or commission. God’s love is so enormous though, He does not count our offenses. He does not keep a chart of the wrongs we have done. Once we ask Him to forgive us, He forgives us. He does not replay the scene over and over, or tell the sad story to anyone who will listen. He simply forgives! Imagine that! He doesn’t think about what we did to slight Him ever again. He truly forgives and forgets.
Forgiveness is not just for the offender. It’s for the one who can’t let it go. Past hurts can weigh us down for years, but we don’t have to replay them in our minds. We have God’s permission to move beyond what was and discover what’s next. Imagine what it would mean if we could truly forgive others as God forgives us. Perhaps we would seek more of the good things we can share with one another. Perhaps we would even realize perfection isn’t necessary. Love, kindness, goodness, and forgiveness are the things that cause us to thrive and allow us to move forward.
As I ponder the idea of true forgiveness, I am beyond grateful that God renews us with His love every morning. He knows we’re fragile. He knows we need softer hearts, but He never gives up on us. He only counts the things we do for Him so someday He may remind us of a few of those shining moments. For today though, let’s all choose to move on to forgiveness. After all, we each know how often God forgives us, and I suspect we may have to admit its somewhere way over 490 times.
Let’s always choose to be forgiving.