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?” Matthew 18:21
“Peter accepted that if someone sins against us and then later asks forgiveness, we should grant the request willingly. But Peter also reasoned that there must be some reasonable limit to how many times we are expected to forgive. Peter must have suspected that Jesus would probably be expecting a particularly generous amount of mercy from His disciples, so he guessed high…
The point is not that we ought to forgive someone up to 490 times. Jesus is obviously using hyperbole. So, if you are keeping a tally of how many times you have forgiven your spouse, stop. Jesus’ point is that we ought to forgive an unlimited number of times.
You can imagine that if you were to tell your children they ought to be willing to forgive an unlimited number of times, they would no doubt respond, “But what about in cases where the offense is really bad?” Jesus anticipated this objection and shared a parable to answer it. The parable of the unforgiving servant…
With this parable. Jesus was teaching that whatever someone has done to offend us always pales in comparison to what we have done to offend God. The Christian who will not forgive is like a guy who will not forgive a few-thousand-dollar debt when he has himself been forgiven billions.”
Chris Brauns in Unpacking Forgiveness: Biblical Answers for Complex Questions and Deep Wounds (Wheaton: Crossway, 2008) 120-123
As I mine the topic of compassion I keep seeing generosity connected with mercy and forgiveness. So, I turned to the Gospels to see how generous Jesus wants us to show mercy and forgiven. Brauns added some good insights too.
The way to grow in generosity with mercy and forgiveness is to keep in the front of our minds the reality of “what we have done to offend God.” His mercy and forgiveness are incalcuable and should inspire us to be merciful and forgiving.
Likewise, when we keep in mind the generosity and grace that has been lavished on us, it transforms our relationship with money and possessions and causes us to generous in our living, giving, serving, loving, and our forgiving.
Christ has forgiven us billions and showered on us the priceless gift of life. Let’s be known for our forgiveness and generosity in return. In hard times like we find ourselves, it will cause our light to shine for Him.