How often must I forgive?

It was common practice among the Jews to forgive three times.

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So Peter is going all out to double and add one, asking if we are expected to forgive seven times. Seven is the biblical number for perfection.

But Jesus raises consciousness beyond the “seventy-seven times” mentioned all the way to Lamech (Gn 4:24), and calls us to forgive as many times as it takes to be set free from desiring vengeance.

It is not counting sins against others. It is forgiving so often that we can easily lose count. Jesus knows we will experience hurt, betrayal, deceit, and a host of other offenses—but love covers this multitude of sins.

We are able to forgive because we are forgiven. Everything starts with God. Just as we love because God loves us, the same goes for forgiveness. No one of us is without sin. And yet, God in the flesh of his crucified Son, takes on all the sin that hinders us.

REFLECTIONS TODAY

Forgiveness is supernatural, and we need God’s grace daily to have the ability to forgive as we should. But until we humble ourselves, and admit we have been forgiven, we will not be able to forgive from our own reserves. We need God to show us how to forgive.

First Reading

Jos 3:7-10a, 11, 13-17