“Lord, how often must I forgive? ,,, Jesus answered, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.” I used to imagine that Jesus was talking about seventy-seven separate incidents that I needed to forgive. All too often even after I have tried to forgive or thought I had forgiven, the old resentments and hurts bite again. I have come to understand that I have to forgive even one wound many times before it finally takes and I reach serenity. Forgiveness is such a big deal to Jesus that he wove it into the Lord’s prayer as part of our daily obligation. That is because we are going to spend eternity with people who have offended us and we can only do so as forgivers.
