The Rabbis around the time of Jesus taught that you should forgive someone up to three times, but not four, based on verses in Amos chapters one and two (Amos 1:3). Jesus Christ had a different view:

(Luke 17:3-4 NKJV) Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you, saying, 'I repent,' you shall forgive him."

I noticed the Apostles had a hilarious response to that:

(Luke 17:5 NKJV) And the apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith."

A key note in this verse was that Jesus said, "If he repents, forgive him."

Repent: to reconsider (repent) v. — to have a change of self (heart and mind) that abandons former dispositions and results in a new self, new behavior, and regret over former behavior and dispositions.

Without repentance, there is no forgiveness. Since faith is shown through our actions and not just words, repentance works the same way. It may include words, but what you truly do is more important. If you keep doing something, then you have not truly repented of it.

Luke includes a parable that Jesus told, which is most commonly known as the Prodigal Son, demonstrating true repentance. It is the story of a young man who demanded his inheritance before his dad was even dead.

(Luke 15:11-14 NASB) And He said, "A man had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the share of the estate that falls to me.' So he divided his wealth between them. And not many days later, the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey into a distant country, and there he squandered his estate with loose living. Now when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country, and he began to be impoverished."

Predictably, when he had spent all his Dad's money and was broke, tough times hit. So he took a job feeding pigs, which was as low as a Jewish man could go. He was hungry with nothing to eat, and no one would give him anything. He envied the hogs he fed, as they at least had food. Finally, he "came to his senses":

(Luke 15:17-19 NASB) "But when he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger! 'I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men." '

So he heads back to his father's house with this long speech he had prepared, but the father sees him coming down the road in rags and barefoot and runs out to meet him.

(Luke 15:20-24 NASB) "So he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. "And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.' "But the father said to his slaves, 'Quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet; and bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.' And they began to celebrate.

The repentance happened when the young man came to his senses in that pig pen and decided to return home, not because of delivering the speech he had prepared. The father saw him coming from afar and ran to meet him because he had forgiven him when he changed his mind in the pig pen. It seems the father wasn't even paying attention to his speech on the road.

If you want to be forgiven for something, stop doing it. That's repentance in a nutshell. The Lord is loving and forgiving, and He would not ask us to forgive someone seven times a day if He wouldn't. Jesus Christ forgave them even as they were crucifying Him, and He will forgive us as well:

(Luke 23:33-34 NASB) When they came to the place called The Skull, there they crucified Him and the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left. But Jesus was saying, "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing."

You can pray this with me if you like:

Prayer: Heavenly Father, I pray that You help me come to my senses whenever I need it. Please give me the grace to set aside every weight and overcome the obstacles in my life. Remove anything that holds me back from being closer to You. In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen!