Then Peter came and said to him, "Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive?  As many as seven times?"  Jesus said to him, "Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.  "For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves.  When he began the reckoning, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him; and, as he could not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions, and payment to be made.  So the slave fell on his knees before him, saying, 'Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.'  And out of pity for him, the lord of that slave released him and forgave him the debt.  But that same slave, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and seizing him by the throat, he said, 'Pay what you owe.'  Then his fellow slave fell down and pleaded with him, 'Have patience with me, and I will pay you.'  But he refused; then he went and threw him into prison until he would pay the debt.  When his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their lord all that had taken place.  Then his lord summoned him and said to him, 'You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me.  Should you not have had mercy on your fellow slave, as I had mercy on you?'  And in anger his lord handed him over to be tortured until he would pay his entire debt.  So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart."

Jesus has already given the command to forgive, now Peter asks, "how often?"  The reply is simple: continuously.

It is easier to approach the idea of forgiving continuously than it is forgiving many, many times.  The first is an ongoing expression of charity; the second counts the cost.  The first doesn't add up individual incidents of offense but it bears everything in love.  The second exhausts the soul as it wonders how long this can continue.  So it is with self-forgiveness, too.  How often do we tolerate ourselves only to the extent that we are able to overcome faults?  That is not unconditional forgiveness but conditional forgiveness based on an impossible self-centered effort of will.  Our self-forgiveness must be continuous and not count each episode of failure.  The King has forgiven our debt but if we turn and demand repayment from ourselves we will be thrown into judgment.

It is much easier to forgive if we take to heart the lesson Jesus gives us.  Remember that our debt to God was great but Jesus paid it in full.  The debt we owe it to ourselves because of sins against ourselves and the debt of others to us because of sins is, in the words of Christ, "much smaller."  So forgive, adopted heir of the kingdom, because it was through forgiveness that you were adopted and have inherited a permanent place in the Father's eternal kingdom of love.