When Peter asked Jesus how many times he should forgive someone who wronged him, the answer was startling: "seventy times seven." But what did this really mean?

As our professor explains to his curious student, this wasn't a mathematical formula but a profound inversion of an ancient ethic. Where Lamech in Genesis once boasted of seventy-sevenfold vengeance, Jesus established a new kingdom ethic of unlimited mercy.

"Forgiveness begins with a decision before it becomes a feeling," the professor reminds us. "The emotions may take years to catch up." This challenging truth reminds us that forgiveness isn't merely emotional release but a deliberate choice that sometimes must be made repeatedly as new dimensions of hurt surface.

In the divine economy, forgiveness always costs someone something—a reality perfectly demonstrated at the cross...

In love's garden, each rose tells a unique story. Deep purple blooms mirror God's majestic agape love, while coral petals represent storge's natural affection between family. A heart-shaped red rose captures eros in its purest form, and swirling blue clouds reflect philia's uplifting friendship. Together in one garden, against darkness, these loves intertwine like carefully embroidered blooms, each growing toward their divine source – the God who first planted love in human hearts.