Seventy Times Seven

I've been thinking about repentance a lot lately. I've been pondering what seems to me to be a paradox - the fact that we must forsake our sins as a condition of repentance paired with the ability to be forgiven multiple times for the same thing. If we have to forsake to be forgiven, than how can we be forgiven again if we do the same thing?

I don't think I fully understand that conundrum still, but as I have studied and pondered on this question, I have gained a few interesting insights.

One of the passages of scriptures that kept coming to my mind was where Jesus commands that we forgive someone 70 times 7 times:

21 ¶Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?

 22 Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.

- Matthew 18:21-22

If we have to forgive someone that many times, it means we can be forgiven that many times. And if we can be forgiven that many times, that means we have to (and can) repent that many times if necessary.

As I thought about this command more I realized something fascinating: 70 years is more or less an average life span and there are 7 days in a week. So in essence what Christ is asking is for us to forgive someone every single day of their entire life if they continue to sincerely repent.

I am grateful that the Atonement of Jesus Christ provides a way for me to continue to get up and brush off my seemingly inevitable mortal falls through repentance and start again. I am so grateful that I can partake of the sacrament each week to both renew my covenants (recommit to being perfect) and to once again be clean and pure.