The Jews had many regulations that they followed simply by tradition. These were not laws that God had given. These were rules that the rabbis and other leaders decided upon over the centuries. The Pharisees were exact in following these rules, and they expected everyone else to live by those rules.
One of the settled rules was that forgiveness should not be extended more than three times. Thus, if a person offended you and then repented, you were to forgive him. If he offended a second time, you were to forgive him. If he offended a third time and repented, you were to forgive him. If he offended a fourth time, you were not required to forgive him if he repented. In fact, you were not to forgive him.
Jesus told his disciples in Luke 17:3-4, that if a man trespassed against you seven times in one day you should forgive him if he repented. Peter came to Jesus in Matthew 18:21-22 and asked how many times a person should be forgiven. Peter asked if he should forgive seven times. Jesus said no, not seven times. Instead, Jesus said you should forgive seventy times seven. The point Jesus was making was that there is no numerical value to forgiving someone. A person who is sincere in his repentance should always be forgiven.
I am glad that Jesus stated this. All of us sin and offend God. Some of us may be weak and repeatedly sin. Yet, God is willing to forgive us if we repent—no matter how many times we may sin. Therefore, if God is willing to forgive us, we should be willing to forgive others.
Study your Bible. Learn how to obey God. Take comfort in God’s forgiveness. Extend that forgiving attitude to others, and if any of this is hard to understand, ask an adult to help you.
