How often should I forgive
someone who sins against me?
—Matthew 18:21
Keep replaying the scene where you were wronged, and when you come to the end, it isn’t THE END. The end is bitterness.
Peter asked, “Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?” That seemed a generous number—after all, it was more than twice the going rate according to Rabbinic teaching.
Jesus told Peter he was way short: “Not seven times,” he said, “but seventy-seven times [or seventy times seven]” (Mt 18:22). In other words, no limit.
I can’t tell you how; I don’t know your hurt. But I can advise you to find a way!—for your own emotional and spiritual well-being.
“We are most like beasts when we kill. We are most like men when we judge. We are most like God when we forgive.”
Stop keeping score. Use the other
end of the pencil—the eraser.