We all want it, but are we willing to give it?
Matthew 18:23-35
Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants.
As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him.
Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.
The servant fell on his knees before him. 'Be patient with me,' he begged, 'and I will pay back everything.'
The servant's master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.
But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him. 'Pay back what you owe me!' he demanded.
His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.'
But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt.
When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened.
Then the master called the servant in. 'You wicked servant,' he said, 'I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to.
Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?'
In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.
We have been forgiven a HUGE debt. For us to NOT forgive someone else is to say we are better than God. If He who is PERFECT can forgive us, how much more should we (in our miserable imperfection) forgive others?
Luke 17:4 And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.
Failure to forgive leads to bitterness, anger and hardness of heart. At least that's what it does in me. If I feel as though I have been wronged by somebody...and even though they repent, they keep on doing it over and over again...I am not likely to truly forgive that person. But that's exactly what this verse tells me to do.
Then maybe I will THINK I have forgiven that person, only to figure out later that I really never did. I'm still hanging onto his or her mistakes as a sort of "blackmail" or "ammunition" to bring up later. I never truly forgave the person.
How do you REALLY, TRULY forgive AND forget? Is it even possible for people to do? Or will those past mistakes always linger and haunt? It MUST be possible or God wouldn't have commanded it.
4 comments:
What I've found is that forgiveness is a choice in the same way that love is a choice. Rather than praying "God, help me forgive this person," pray, "God, I forgive this person."
Remember that when you forgive someone, you are agreeing to live with any consequences in your life of their sin. For me, it seems easier to forgive someone if you first admit to yourself how much they've hurt you. When you see how much power unforgiveness is holding on you, it's a lot easier to let go and forgive.
Nice - I like what you said about "agreeing to live with any consequences in your life of their sin." That is so right on the spot.
Victorious Christian Living describes unforgiveness in terms of godship. Way down deep we all want to be God - to set the standards of right and wrong (Well, I would never do something like that!), and to hold people accountable to us for those standards. But God is the only Lawgiver and Judge. When someone hurts us, they have sinned against God - broken His holy law. For us to judge them as guilty is to say that God isn't just, His law not good enough, and that we don't trust Him to deal correctly with that person. James 4:11 says that if we judge another person we judge the law and are no longer followers of the law ourselves!
Forgiveness recognizes what the person did or is doing, then puts them in God's hands and says, "that person is not guilty of anything against me." When Jesus was on earth He didn't judge anyone or give them what they deserved, but "Kept entrusting Himself to the One who judges rightly." 1 Pt 2:23 You will never rebuild oneness with someone who you see as guilty and deserving punishment. But if God is God then you can let Him handle it and they can be innocent in your sight.
"Forgiveness recognizes what the person did or is doing, then puts them in God's hands and says, 'that person is not guilty of anything against me.'"
"You will never rebuild oneness with someone who you see as guilty and deserving punishment."
Love it.
~a
Post a Comment