Initiate Forgiveness

Matt. 18:21-22 At that point Peter got up the nerve to ask, “Master, how many times do I forgive a brother or sister who hurts me? Seven?” Jesus replied, “Seven! Hardly. Try seventy times seven.

Personal forgiveness is a choice. In rabbinic discussion the consensus was that a brother might be forgiven a repeated sin three times; on the fourth, there is no forgiveness. Peter, thinking himself big-hearted, volunteers “seven times” in answer to his own question. Jesus raises the bar. All of us have been forgive far more than we will ever have to forgive.