Then the king called in the man he had forgiven and said, ‘You evil servant! I forgave you that tremendous debt because you pleaded with me. 33 Shouldn’t you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?’ 34 Then the angry king sent the man to prison to be tortured until he had paid his entire debt. 35 “That’s what my heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters from your heart.” (Matthew 18:32–35)
You know the story, a man is forgiven a huge debt and then he, in turn, put someone in jail for a comparatively small debt. The application from Jesus is unambiguous: we are to forgive because of the great debt we have been forgiven.
Step one is to remember how great is the debt God has forgiven us. We may think we are pretty good, but we have persistently rebelled against God . . . which is cosmic treason. The most reckless of crimes.
If we compare what others have done to us with what we have done against the Lord, we should be willing to forgive the lesser crime in light of the greater crime (which, believe it or not, is our sin against God) that was forgiven.
Forgiveness is not easy. In many instances we must forgive over and over until we can let it go entirely. A lack of forgiveness shows ingratitude and it only makes us (rather than the offender) miserable. One of the greatest gifts we can give or receive is the gift of forgiveness. It is a treasure we must not take lightly.
Forgive 4.27.21
35 “That’s what my heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters from your heart.”
(Matthew 18:32–35)
You know the story, a man is forgiven a huge debt and then he, in turn, put someone in jail for a comparatively small debt. The application from Jesus is unambiguous: we are to forgive because of the great debt we have been forgiven.
Step one is to remember how great is the debt God has forgiven us. We may think we are pretty good, but we have persistently rebelled against God . . . which is cosmic treason. The most reckless of crimes.
If we compare what others have done to us with what we have done against the Lord, we should be willing to forgive the lesser crime in light of the greater crime (which, believe it or not, is our sin against God) that was forgiven.
Forgiveness is not easy. In many instances we must forgive over and over until we can let it go entirely. A lack of forgiveness shows ingratitude and it only makes us (rather than the offender) miserable. One of the greatest gifts we can give or receive is the gift of forgiveness. It is a treasure we must not take lightly.