God's Concept of Healing…
Matthew 18;
21) Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?
22) Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.
God is too GOD to be creating junk files… He is too supreme to be establishing laws or stating facts that are of little or no significance… Anyone that studies scripture deeply and closely will realise that God spoke in certain patterns, pending the context and all the time to “hit a certain Nail”… In today’s post, I try to understand by the leading of the Holy Spirit what Jesus meant when he said to Peter in the context of FORGIVENESS, “Until seventy times seven (490 times)…
Could this just have been a message of humility?
Is it possible for someone to offend you that many times?
What is the voice of the Spirit saying???
God wasn’t just putting away man’s pride of been able to forgive SEVEN time ( 7 must have seemed like a really big deal to Peter; I mean, it takes the grace of God to forgive once, let alone 7 times-). Jesus didn’t just humble man, He taught within that very context that, when a person sins against you (offends you), It might require of you to forgive that person at most 490 times; this is to say, for your heart to totally heal sometimes, YOU JUST NEED TO FORGIVE UPON EVERY REMEMBRANCE until your heart affirms it completely…
Forgiveness is an important part of healing a broken heart (someone who has been hurt in whatsoever way), and bringing yourself back to life. This implies that in order to be able to move ahead to the next level in life, you need to forgive that person or else you remain wondering in this thought, ” Why me? Why did s/he hurt me??
Now, because forgiveness doesn’t happen overnight and can take a while (the healing process I mean), Christ says, “until seventy times seven”, so for a fact, you get yourself ready to actually forgive that person. We must remember, God forgives us daily in Christ a whole lot more than 490 times!!!
It is popularly said, ” Forgive and Forget”, while it is true that you could have genuinely forgiven the person the first time, it takes a WHILE to absolutely forget, thus GOD’S CONCEPT OF HEALING!!! In other words, since it takes time to heal, forgiving 490 times means, you should allow yourself to heal through the process- Our memory is a funny thing, we keep remembering; so God is saying, for each remembrance, Forgive…FOrgive… FORgive…FORGive…FORGIve…FORGIVe…FORGIVE… Until your heart has completely HEALED-
Beacause if you don’t…
Matthew 18:35 says, “So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses….
Are you reading this today and need to forgive someone?
Or you are reading this and need to be forgiven?
My advice as a friend would be for you to DO WHAT IS RIGHT, for only then would you have PEACE OF MIND…. Do what is right,
God’s blessings upon you and may you continually find His absolute Peace-
Olabode Oluwatosin