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I remember growing up my mother used to quote the Parable about Forgiveness. She would just say Seventy times Seven! That’s how many times you should forgive! Meaning: Always forgive. Here’s the whole Parable for reference:

The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant

21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”

22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.[g]

23 “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold[h] was brought to him. 25 Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.

26 “At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ 27 The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.

28 “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins.[i] He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.

29 “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’

30 “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt.31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.

32 “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34 In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.

35 “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”

What I love about this Parable is what I love about Jesus. He does not ask us to do anything He himself has not done. Just speaking for myself..  the many ways I have hurt myself, others, and especially God I can barely stand to think of. The disappointment, guilt, shame, disgust, etc of my sin would be too much to bare if I didn’t know Jesus and the freedom of forgiveness that comes ONLY by His dying on the cross for my sins. Then multiple that by the billions of people on this planet who have sinned against themselves, others and God… Christ died for ALL OF THAT, FORGIVING ALL WHO ASK. HE TOOK CARE OF OUR DEBT. Since He took pity on me and you, canceled our debt by BEING the sacrifice and let us go in freedom… it should be a breeze to do the same, minor or major of what others have and will do to us. 

My dad has gotten a lot of grief from my blog posts about the ways I have faced hardships and brokenness because of His absence in my life. BUT I KNOW His actions come from His own brokenness and I could truly only begin to forgive Him when first I acknowledged all the hurt he caused instead of hiding it away and acting like it didn’t exist (another post for another day!) and when I was able to see all the sin in my own life and start to believe the Gospel… that God loves me despite my past and my sin. That in fact it ISN’T ABOUT WHAT I HAVE DONE… IT IS ABOUT WHAT HE (JESUS) DID. HE DIED FOR THAT SIN. HE PAID THE DEBT. GOD DOESN’T SEE MY SIN WHEN HE LOOKS AT ME. HE SEES JESUS. If God can do that for me and you, if He can look at all our sin, hear our thoughts, see our heart… and KNOW us like NO ONE knows us… and STILL FORGIVE US AND LOVE US…

Just wrapping my head and heart around that allows ME to forgive my dad and others who have used, abused and hurt me… both intentionally and unintentionally. I am so thankful for a perfect God who asks us not to be perfect but a God who is continually molding us into the likeness of Him… someone who LOVES and FORGIVES. I pray that I remember my own debt and God’s lovingkindness and forgiveness only to remember to extend that same love and forgiveness to others.