=SEVEN OR SEVENTY TIMES SEVEN?=
Matthew 18:21-23 (NIV)
Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my
brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?" 22 Jesus answered, "I
tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.
When it comes to the subject of forgiveness and having to forgive people we
can all relate to this subject, some from a platform of victory and some
maybe out of an ongoing struggle.
Forgiving people is not an optional extra but a vital part of this Gospel we
believe. Christ is the standard of our forgiveness issues. Freely He has
forgiven us of so much and now He expects us to freely forgive others.
In this conversation between Jesus and His disciple we see the measurement
of forgiveness that Jesus expects us to use. The disciple said,"... seven
times", Jesus says,"... seventy times seven." This is a massive ratio
difference for us to see the difference between the power of human love
(philia) and the potential of God's love (agape). Remember, we are now the
containers of God's love and not just human love which means that we can go
further than we thought we could. Remember also, God is love (agape) and
that means if you acknowledge you have God in you then you also have to
acknowledge that you also have a never ending well of divine love in you
too. It is out of this resource of love that we can find what we need to
love people beyond the human potential of seven times.
Let's face it, when it comes to forgiving with human love, seven times is a
lot. Most people get written off after the three count right-- 3 strikes and
you're out. God wants us to break down the limiting barriers of human love
with all its conditions and regulations and begin to love and forgive people
from bigger love. God's agape love is now resident in our lives.
As always this involves choice. Will you choose to drop a bucket into God's
bottomless well of love within you and pull up what you need to release and
forgive that person you said you never would? Remember forgiving someone
does not make them or what they did right, it sets you free!
God wants us free in every area of our lives, and when we choose to forgive
we do not just open the prison door for others often we are letting
ourselves out too. We can be free to live love and move on with life.
Remember, what we learned from 1 Corinthians 13. One of the things that
make's God's love different to human love is that it keeps no record of
wrongs. Only God's love released can truly do this. Hey it's a good job we
have it!
Have a great day
Andy
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