THE NUMBER OF FORGIVENESS

When we ask, “How often should I forgive?” we pretend what isn’t true—that there have only been a modest number of times when we required forgiveness.

The answer from the Lord—and from an honest conscience—is that we ought to forgive as many times as we have been forgiven. That number is unknowable, and, truth be told, steadily growing.

Forgiveness is a way of being, not a sin-by-sin accounting system designed to make us all good recordkeepers. It’s in the heart of Jesus to “not hold our sins against us,” to fully, wholly, and yes, joyfully erase the record of our sins when we confess and leave them. And we’ll do the same for others when we candidly admit how much we’ve been forgiven.

Grace knows no integers, no fractions, and no decimal points. This is the life we live when we go walking with the Lord.

So stay in grace.