Seventy times seven

Matthew 18:22 - Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you seven times but seventy times seven."

In human terms, that turns out to be unconditional and never-ending forgiveness. Yet, there is something about forgiveness that I must state here. To forgive does not mean forget and it certainly does not mean there will be no consequences. Jesus forgives our mistakes and bumbling attempts to follow him, yet we still experience consequences of our actions. This is important and many people gloss over it.

It's the forget part that I want to highlight. I would hope that if a brother or sister was treating you so badly that the number of times you were forgiving them got that high, it would lead to a serious conversation at least and a willingness to not trust or be around that person. They are or can be dangerous. Some people would be okay with this. It would be good to look at what someone got out of continually being let down. What's the trade off?

Another aspect of forgetting is that forgetting in itself can be dangerous. If someone has abused me in any way, it is in my and everyone else's  best interest to not forget. Remembering can lead to protecting ourselves. Again, some people can move past that, yet it takes a lot of self-awareness and reflection to get to such a point. We ordinary people need to take these issues one step at a time.

Which brings me to a last point - there is no need to forgive immediately. Nowhere in these two verses does it say forgiveness is immediate. Many times, we need to work through trauma first and then begin the process of being able to forgive. This can take years and a lot of work. If we keep at it, we may become people who can be around otherwise dangerous individuals without losing ourselves or our center.
B