We will be picking up where we left off in our Tell me the story of
Jesus adventure. The topic for today is Forgiveness which has
different meanings for different people and sometimes different
meanings for the same people, depending on what's being "forgiven".
Actually, the meanings are very similar, but the levels of
forgiveness are different. The question is, What would Jesus consider
forgiveness? While you ponder on that Forgive Seventy Times Seven
Bible tidbit, let's look at what Jesus said about having to forgive
each other.
Jesus said ... If your brother sins against you, go and talk to him
about it alone, and if he will hear you (make peace), you've gained
your brother. In the book of James 5:20,
James gives us a clear picture of what happens when you gain your
brother. He says, Brothers, if any of you sin, and someone brings him to
repentance, let him know that the person who converts the sinner from
the error of his way will save a soul from death, and will hide a
multitude of sins.
What a wonderful reward! We must forgive to be forgiven.
But, Jesus said, If your brother won't make peace with
you, then take one or two people with you to witness and reason with him
(Deuteronomy
19:15, 1
Timothy 5:19). If he still doesn't want to make peace, tell the
church, but if he still refuses, think of him as a heathen and a
publican. Honestly I tell you, whoever's sins you retain on earth,
will be found guilty in Heaven and whoever's sin you forgive on
earth, will be forgiven in Heaven.
Again I tell you, if two agree on earth, concerning anything they
ask, it will be done for them by my Father in Heaven, because where
two or three are gathered together in my name, I am there in the
midst of them.
Forgive Seventy Times Seven Bible story time ... This whole thing
brought up a question in Peter's mind and he asked Jesus, Lord, how
many times should I forgive my brother if he sins against me? Seven
times? Jesus answered him, Not only seven times, but seventy times
seven.
Let's find out who we really are, shall we? Remember when we said
that the meaning of forgiveness differs from person to person and
circumstance to circumstance? Well, the reason we seem to have given
the act of forgiveness different levels, is so that we can say we've
forgiven, without truly forgiving. We feel like as long as we've
achieved or performed any given level of forgiveness, we can take
credit for the total act of this very important virtue.
Forgive Seventy Times Seven Bible Choices
Next in our Forgive Seventy Times Seven Bible voyage, we're going to
take a look at the different levels that we've divided forgiveness up
into and you can decide for yourself, which level(s) you've chosen to
grant to the people in your life and learn how to forgive to be
forgiven. Some of these may sound the same to you, but many people
don't like to admit to something (even to themselves) unless every
word in the description are the words they would use. These aren't in
any order of importance.
-
You cease to feel resentment against an offender, but you really
don't trust them anymore.
-
You can forgive but you can't forget. You store a record of the
offense in the back of your mind just in case you need to bring it up
at a later date for any reason.
-
You claim to forgive, but your relationship has never been quite the
same with the person. You tolerate the offender as much and as you
can bear, because Jesus said to forgive. Sometimes you rarely speak,
if ever again, and the relationship ends after the so-called
forgiveness.
-
You excuse the offense, but you ridicule, deride, mock, taunt or
rally the offender, sometimes in anger and other times in humor.
-
You forgive outwardly for appearances, but inside you just can't
seem to forgive.
-
Some things you forgive, some things ya don't, it's complicated
you know.
And finally ...
-
You pardon someone totally and unconditionally. You continue to
love the person who sinned against you, just as you did before the
offense. It's as though it never even happened. Recollections of the
offense are not used for any reason. You don't forget
that you're a sinner yourself and mercy and grace are the greatest
gift that God has given you.
Forgive Seventy Times Seven Bible Warning
Forgive to Be Forgiven Law Danger
Now, let's look at the word forgive. The prefix for
means before and the word give, in this case, means
commit. So, to forgive is to think of things as they were
before the offense was committed. You may say, That's a
tough thing to do, until you think about this: Have you ever
done anything that you wish you had never done; that if you
could, you would totally erase it from your life, that it would be
forgotten totally from anyone's memory who knows about it? It won't
happen unless you forgive others the same way.
Forgive Seventy Times Seven Bible reminder ... Remember when Jesus
said, For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with
what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again, Matthew
7:2. Now that you turn things around, and your own
forgiveness of others is involved, you can relate better to the
phrase forgive and forget. To sum up this whole definition business,
it would be fair to say that to forgive is to forget.
It's hard on both the offender and the victim of a sin, when
forgiveness is not granted. For the offender, they feel untrusted and
ashamed. It can weaken a person's soul to live with knowing that
you're not forgiven for something that you're so sorry for. It's as
if there's an invisible net around them that they can't escape. To
repent for something you've done, and not to be forgiven, is an
experience that God didn't want us to bear, and that's the whole
reason why we have the New Testament, and why Jesus died for us. It's
a shame that we've defiled this beautiful gift of grace with levels.
Forgive the way you want to be forgiven by God for things that you've
done.
Forgive to be forgiven and how to forgive each other trivia time ...
What about the victim of a sin? How can being unforgiving hurt you?
It's in your subconscious mind if you haven't completely forgiven
someone for something. Your mind knows what level you've assigned to
each act of forgiveness you've granted. You don't think about it all
the time, but the knowledge of it is there. This can cause bitterness
in your spirit that can affect other parts of your life. Your faith
will feel like it's tainted with guilt. That's because you're being
measured by God with the same forgiveness scale that you're
using. Your lack of trust in your offender can cause you to be
untrusting of others as well. If your offender is a loved one, you
can become blameful of them for unrelated things that happen in your
life. Unforgivingness can cause a chain of circumstances that prevent
you from being fruitful for God. Until you completely release your
offender from his sin, you'll remain in the same net that you've put
him in.
Forgive Seventy Times Seven Bible Time out ... We've done a pretty
thorough job of putting forgiveness into levels, now let's look at
the levels that we've put sin into. Are there sins that we simply
find unforgivable and others that we have no problem whatsoever
forgetting? To that, I have to ask you, are there some sins that
you've committed that you think God should hold you accountable for,
or do you want Him to forgive all of your sins?
In Mark
11:25-26 Jesus addressed this very thing. And when you stand
praying, forgive, if you have anything against any: so your Father in
Heaven may forgive you your trespasses. But if you don't forgive,
neither will your Father in Heaven forgive you.
Did you catch that? If you have anything against any
one. Forgive each other and forgive to be forgiven or you
won't be forgiven. Sorry, there are no categories for all. All means
all. It doesn't limit the number(s) or the intensity of the sin(s),
or even how long ago they happened, it's infinite.
Our Forgive each other report card on our forgiveness performance
will be administered to us on Judgment Day and we'll be remembered in
God's eyes exactly the way we remembered (or forgave) others. We're
gonna conclude today's study with a forgive to be forgiven parable
that Jesus told.
The Kingdom of Heaven is like a certain king who wanted to check on
the debt of his servants. When he had begun to estimate, one person
was brought to him that owed him 10,000 talents (a talent is an
ancient coin of a certain weight). Since the man had no money to pay,
the king ordered that the servant, his wife, children and all that he
owned be sold so that he, the king, could be paid.
The servant fell down and begged, Lord, have patience with me and
I'll pay you everything I owe. The king was moved with compassion and
released him, and forgave him the debt. (The king actually set the
servant free and wiped out the debt.)
The same servant went out and found one of his fellow-servants, who
owed him 100 pence. (That's about one millionth of the debt that the
king forgave him for.) He took him by the throat and said, Pay me
what you owe me! His fellow-servant fell at his feet and begged him,
Have patience with me and I'll pay you everything I owe. The man
would not, but he went and threw his fellow-servant into prison until
the man could pay the debt.
When the other servants saw what happened, they were very sorry and
went and told the king what was done. The king called him and said, O
you wicked servant, I forgave you all that debt because you asked me,
shouldn't you also have had mercy on your fellow-servant, like I had
mercy on you? And the king was angry and put him in jail until he
could pay all that he owed the king.
In the same way will my Heavenly Father do to you, if you from
your hearts don't forgive every one of your brothers for their sins.
Okay, back to the beginning of our Forgive Seventy Times Seven Bible
study ... Remember the question we began with? What would Jesus
consider forgiveness? My friend, the answer is this: He's gonna use
the definition you choose ... on you! With that in mind, you may want
to consider how generous you are with the gift of forgiveness that
you grant to others ... And to yourself!
Forgive Seventy Times Seven Bible Summary
Forgive Each Other and Forgive to Be Forgiven Conclusion
It's never too late to forgive to be forgiven. There may be something
that happened years ago, maybe even in your childhood that you
haven't completely forgiven someone for. You can change that. You can
free yourself and other people to be more fruitful for God if you do.
If someone hasn't forgiven you for something, perhaps you'd like to
ask them to forgive you. You're not only seeking for peace for your
own soul, but you're also giving them a chance to escape that
invisible net that they've unknowingly put themselves in as well. We
must forgive each other.
God's
Grace is above all, one of the most precious gifts we have from
God. Be sure to read more about His Grace and it will enlighten you
even more about how to extend your own mercy and grace to others.
Every day is a new beginning, every moment, a fresh start. Clean your
slate and give others a chance to clean theirs too.
Our Seventy Times Seven Bible study on the statement from Jesus that
we are to forgive seventy times seven times simply means that we must
choose to forgive all for ourselves to be forgiven by God.
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Forgive Seventy Times Seven Bible Resources
70x7.com ... The meaning of Seventy Times Seven - The Meaning of 70x7 - The name 70x7 is synonymous with God's eternal forgiveness. Jesus isn't telling us to forgive our brothers 490 times, or 70 times, or 77 times. He's telling us we should always forgive our brothers when they have sinned against us. God in heaven has forgiven us all of humanity's sins. How wrong it would be for us to deny our brothers and sisters a similar forgiveness for much lesser matters.
Bible Hub ... Matthew 18:22 Jesus answered, "I tell you, not just seven but Seventy times seven. No specific number, but practically unlimited. There is no measure to forgiveness; it must be practised whenever occasion arises.
Bible Study Tools ... Seventy Time Seven Meaning in Matthew 18:22 - Jesus says we should forgive someone seventy times seven in response to a question from Peter about how many times to forgive a brother who sins.
Country Living ... 20 Hopeful Bible Verses About the Power of Forgiveness - Sometimes we need a little reminder that the best gift we can give others and ourselves is forgiveness.
Crosswalk.com ... 15 Best Prayers for Forgiveness - Whether seeking forgiveness for our own sins or asking God to help us forgive others, prayer is the first place to start when seeking restoration and healing.
Focus on the Family ... How to Forgive: Four Thoughts to Help You Forgive Others - How to forgive others in three practical steps · Start by praying for that person. Pray for their good. · Ask God to help you.
Holy Spirit ... Forgive Seventy Times Seven Bible Requirement is something we seem to accept when it concerns our forgiveness but we seem to take a different view when it comes to us forgiving others. The Bible is clear, we must forgive to be forgiven. Allow the Holy Spirit to teach you the Spiritual essence of this Truth.
Woman's Day ... 16 Best Forgiveness Prayers - Whether you're struggling to forgive yourself or someone who wronged you, these prayers will help your heart heal. “Father, please forgive me when I allow anger and bitterness to fill my heart because I refuse to forgive someone who has hurt me.
When you have finished this Forgive Seventy Times Seven Bible study researching the warning given in the Bible to forgive each other and the law on how to forgive to be forgiven, you can also check out some of the other Christian entertainment, games, music, books, mall, studies and programs within our Christian community below:
