Forgiveness

Forgiveness starts with a choice and then becomes a process. Jesus urges us to make this choice for ourselves when he responds to Peter's question about the number of times we should forgive. "Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive? As many as seven times?" Once ... twice ... three times ... "as many as seven times"?

"Not seven times," says Jesus, "but, I tell you, seventy-seven times." Other translations of this verse say "seventy times seven times" ... totaling 490 times.