<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Matthew 18:21-22<\/a> \u00a0Then Peter came up and said to him, \u201cLord, how often\u00a0will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him?\u00a0As many as seven times?\u201d\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>Jesus said to him,\u00a0<\/em>\u201cI do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.<\/em><\/p>\n Forgiveness can be a tricky thing. After all, we\u2019re commanded to do so as believers. While we understand the \u2018forgive\u201d part, we\u2019re not gifted this side of eternity with the \u201cforget\u201d capability. And that can make the forgiving part a lot harder.<\/p>\n The disciples weren\u2019t quite sure how it all worked, either\u2014hence Peter\u2019s discussion with Jesus in\u00a0Matthew 18<\/a>. They were still thinking in terms of the law. According to\u00a0Amos 1:3-13<\/a>, God forgave His people three times before exacting punishment. In Peter\u2019s day, this was a popular passage that the Rabbis taught from on the subject. Peter possibly assumed that by suggesting seven times\u2014more than double the assumed appropriate amount\u2014he would get brownie points with Jesus for being extra gracious. But Jesus had an answer that blew them all away. \u201cSeventy times seven.\u201d<\/p>\n As Christians today, we know Jesus didn\u2019t literally mean 490 times, though there can be days with our children and spouses that we feel like surely, we\u2019ve met that quota by now! This instruction from the Lord doesn\u2019t mean that at 491 times, we can hold a grudge and be free and clear of the command to forgive. He was implying endless times. Endless grace\u2014like God gives to us.<\/p>\n Now, when it comes to forgiving the same offense, or similar offenses, from the same person in our lives, this command from Jesus doesn\u2019t mean to become a doormat or accept abuse or inappropriate behavior. It\u2019s also important to note that Peter is asking about \u201cmy brother\u201d. He didn\u2019t mean his biological sibling, but rather, was referring to a fellow believer\u2014family, spouses, friends, church members, etc. A brother seeking forgiveness from another brother (believer) implies repentance. There\u2019s a difference between someone toxically, repeatedly treating someone poorly, and someone messing up, seeking forgiveness, and having a repentant heart that truly aims to not repeat the offense (even if they do fail again).<\/p>\n Peter was still focused on the law when he asked this question of Jesus, and Jesus was focused on grace when He answered. At the end of the day, when we withhold forgiveness from a brother in Christ, we\u2019re essentially saying that the work of Jesus on the cross wasn\u2019t sufficient for this offense. Yikes! That\u2019s obviously not the heart posture we\u2019re supposed to have as believers, or should even want to have. If the person seeking our forgiveness is a true believer, then their sin was already covered on the cross through Jesus\u2019s sacrifice and blood. Who are we to withhold forgiveness if Jesus offered it freely?<\/p>\n If the person seeking forgiveness isn\u2019t a believer, we\u2019re still instructed to forgive. The penalty for that sin does fall not on us to dole out (Romans 12:19<\/a>) but will be dealt with eventually one way or another by our righteous Judge\u2014God Himself. There is also the hope that one day that unbeliever will be a believer, and your forgiveness could be a seed planted that helps point them to the life-changing grace of the Gospel.\u00a0 (Haddox)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Matthew 18:21-22 \u00a0Then Peter came up and said to him, \u201cLord, how often\u00a0will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him?\u00a0As many as seven times?\u201d\u00a0Jesus said to him,\u00a0\u201cI do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times. Forgiveness can be a tricky thing. After all, we\u2019re commanded to do so as … Continue reading “58.g. Matthew 18:21-22”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-195069","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily-prayers"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195069","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=195069"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195069\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":195073,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195069\/revisions\/195073"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=195069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=195069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=195069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}