Lately, I've been struggling with the concept of "seven times seventy". Forgiveness is a hard one for me. Always has been, but lately it seems like it's been a little more difficult for me. But tonight, when I was getting ready for bed, I asked God to show me what I needed to see. And I opened my Bible to Matthew 18, which is the parable of the unforgiving debtor. It really just hit me...I mess up soooo much. Like, all the time. And so do other people. But it's ok, because I have a God with a really big eraser for all my mistakes. Whatever I mess up with my human-ness, He's bigger than it, and He's forgiving me always. And that's something I really don't want to lose. So, that means the next and most obvious step would be for me to forgive others. So, I'm gonna make it a point to forgive. Any time I start to feel that old bitterness try to creep into my heart, I'm gonna remind myself of this passage...
Then Peter came to him and asked him "Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times? "No, not seven times," Jesus replied, "but seven times seventy!"
Therefore, the Kingdom of Heaven can be compared to a king who decided to bring his accounts up to date with servants who had borrowed money from him. In the process, one of his debtors was brought in who owed him millions of dollars. He couldn't pay, so his master ordered that he be sold-- along with his wife, his children, and everything he owned-- to pay the debt. But the man fell down before his master and begged him "Please, be patient with me, and I will pay it all." Then his master was filled with pity for him, and he released him and forgave his debt.
But when the man left the king, he went to a fellow servant who owed him a few thousand dollars. He grabbed him by the throat and demanded instant payment. His fellow servant fell down before him and begged him for a little more time. "Be patient with me, and I will pay it," he pleaded. But his creditor wouldn't wait. He had the man arrested and put in prison until the debt could be paid in full. When some of the other servants saw this, they were very upset. They went to the king and told him everything that had happened. Then the king called in the man who he had forgiven and said, "You evil servant! I forgave you that tremendous debt because you pleaded with me. Shouldn't you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you? Then the angry king sent the man to prison until he had paid his entire debt.
That's what your heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters from your heart.
Matthew 18:21-35
