“Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.” Matthew 18:21-22

During this COVID-mess… (Have you noticed that’s what we call it…this “COVID-mess”…we did thus and so, until this “COVID-mess.”)

During this COVID-mess, my children and I have used the time to declutter some of our lives. Among us, they haven’t taken it as seriously. One of our boys is a bit of a hoarder. It happens with children from orphanages in other countries. He saves every scrap of anything and everything. Among the mess, I find pencils—possibly hundreds of pencils. All of them have a worn off eraser.

Just look at all those pencils! Some of them are long, and others are short and stubby. Most of them are cheap pencils. A few of them are high dollar Ticonderoga pencils. None of them have an eraser.

It reminds me that we make many mistakes. When I make a mistake, I keep trying until I get it right. Usually, that means I have a worn-out eraser. A pencil wouldn’t be worth much without a good eraser.

All those pencils piled up in the pencil box remind me of people. Some are long and tall, others of us short and stubby. Regardless of our shape and appearance, we all make a lot of mistakes. When Jesus died on the cross and rose again, he became the ultimate eraser for mistakes. Through all my mistakes, the Savior will erase all my mistakes so I can start again.

Peter asked the Lord how many times a person should forgive someone who has sinned or made trespass against us. Should we forgive her once? Should we forgive him twice? Should we forgive seven times? Peter was pretty happy with himself to think he would forgive someone seven times. That is a lot of erasing!

Jesus stunned them all with his answer—not seven times, but seventy times seven times. I’m not sure I have an eraser that big. To erase someone’s mistakes that much would remove the mark, the imprint, and possibly the first layer of paper. To rub out seventy times seven would obliterate a mistake.

When Jesus gave his life and took it up again, he became the one source for absolute forgiveness. His grace and mercy will obliterate our shortcomings and the imprint of shame and guilt. Full forgiveness removes even the shadow left by our markings. It does not matter what shape we may be in when we come to Him. Christ will take our mistakes and rub them out until they are utterly destroyed in his mercy.

We are happy with this explanation, but that’s not what Peter was asking. The question is, how many times should “I” forgive someone. We are most like God when we show mercy. The ability to show grace is part of our nature given to us at creation. When we forgive someone for a mistake, it feels good, like a slice of heaven, or a holy nudge. We feel blessed, and we bestow a merciful blessing on others.

Regardless of our shape or value, we are worthy of God’s mercy because we are God’s crowning achievement of goodness. Therefore, let us forgive one another because he or she is also God’s crowning achievement of goodness. Our refusal to forgive deprives us of blessing and hinders our walk with the Lord. Is your anger worth the loss? When you compare the wrong to all that is right with God, is the injustice worth losing the blessing? Let the Lord erase all of your mistakes from when you fell short of God’s expectations and goodness. Remember how quickly the Lord absolved you of your errors and how instantly you felt free. Wouldn’t you feel better if you let go of your anger and resentment in exchange for a greater blessing?