We Can't Count That High

 

Then Peter came up

       and said to Him,

"Lord, how often will

    my brother sin against me,

    and I forgive him?

    As many as seven times?"

Jesus said to him,

"I do not say to you seven times,

   but seventy times seven."

                  Matthew 19. 21-22

(Within Judaism,

     forgiving three times was

     considered sufficient.

Peter thought he was being

     gracious and generous.

But Jesus multiplies.

How many times?

Stop counting 

          and just forgive.

If we are counting,

     are we really forgiving?

Jesus multiplies,

   not just forgivenesses,

but its resounding effects

  through countless generations.)

O LORD,

When we don't forgive,

    we are the ones jailed by

    our hard unwilling hearts.

It cannot help but change

           who we are.

    You know that.

Help us not forgive

     out of obligation,

but from our hearts,

able only

   because You have forgiven us.

We cannot help

  but be changed by that as well.

Fill us with Your mercy today

  and be astonished by how much

  Your steadfast love cost You.

Forgive us.

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