Key Scripture
“Then Peter came up and said to Him, ‘Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.’” — Matthew 18:21–22 (ESV)
Devotional Reflection
If forgiveness were easy, you probably would not be reading this devotional.
Most of us do not struggle to forgive small inconveniences. We can overlook a forgotten errand, an insensitive comment, or a moment of impatience. But some wounds go much deeper. They involve betrayal, rejection, humiliation, abandonment, broken trust, or years of disappointment. The deeper the wound, the harder forgiveness feels.
Perhaps you have asked yourself questions like these:
- Why should I forgive someone who never apologized?
- Why should I release someone who caused so much pain?
- What if forgiving them means they “get away with it”?
- What if I try to forgive and still hurt afterward?
These are not foolish questions. They are honest ones.
Even Peter struggled with the limits of forgiveness. When he asked Jesus how many times he should forgive someone who repeatedly sinned against him, Peter thought he was being generous. The common expectation of his day was far less. Offering forgiveness seven times seemed more than reasonable.
But Jesus answered in a way that challenged Peter’s heart.
“I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.”
Jesus was not giving Peter a number to keep count of offenses. He was revealing that forgiveness is not about maintaining a ledger. It is about cultivating a heart shaped by the mercy of God.
Yet this teaching raises another question:
Why is forgiveness so hard?
Because forgiveness costs something.
When we have been hurt, something within us cries out for justice. We want the wrong acknowledged. We want the pain understood. We want fairness restored. Deep down, we want assurance that what happened mattered.
And it did matter.
Forgiveness does not deny that reality.