Monday - The Question Behind the Number

Matthew 18:21-22 – "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."

Peter's question sounds reasonable. Somebody hurts you again and again – surely there's a limit. Surely at some point you've paid your dues as the forgiving one and you're allowed to stop. Seven felt generous to Peter. More than generous, really. He was probably expecting Jesus to pat him on the back for it.

Instead, Jesus reframes the whole question. He's not handing Peter a bigger number to count to. He's telling him that forgiveness was never meant to be counted at all. The moment you're keeping score, you've already misunderstood what forgiveness is.

That's worth sitting with today. Most of us don't consciously decide to keep a ledger on the people who've hurt us, it just happens. We remember the number of times. We remember the pattern. We remember the exact words. And somewhere along the way, forgiveness quietly turns into bookkeeping.

Think about the person whose name still tightens your chest a little. Are you keeping score with them, even without meaning to? What would it look like to stop counting altogether?