Forgiveness is Essential – For Us and From Us

Matthew 18:35

“This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.”

Do you remember the story this passage concludes?  It is the story Jesus told about forgiveness.  It could be called the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant – in one Bible it is called the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant.  Here’s how the story goes – a paraphrase.  A person owed someone a great sum of money – a sum so large they could never repay it – even if they worked their whole life.  The sum was required of the man and he begged for mercy – asking for time to pay off the debt – but remember – it was larger than he could ever repay.  The man owed the money had mercy and forgave the debt – completely – wiped it off the books – an act of mercy.  After this act of mercy and grace the man who owed the large sum ran across someone who owed him a small sum.  Instead of passing on the act of mercy to the man who owed the small sum – he jailed the man who owed the money.  When the person who was merciful found out – he jailed the one who he forgave.  You can read the story here.

Of course the meaning is clear – at least in the commentaries I read.  God has forgiven us a debt we could NEVER repay – He died on the Cross of Calvary to pay our debt of sin.  We are the forgiven but often some of us have a hard time forgiving others.  We carry their debt with us in our hearts and hold it against them.  Do you remember the Lord’s Prayer and what it says about forgiveness?  It says – forgive us of our sins – as we forgive those who sin against us.  In the book Enemies of the Heart Andy Stanley wrote: Whenever I talk to someone who’s hesitant to forgive, invariably it’s because this person is evaluating his decision in light of what was done to him rather than what was done for him.  Forgiveness is more about us and our heart rather than the heart of the one needing forgiveness.  We forgive – not because the person being forgiven merits forgiveness or even asks for it – but because we want to rid our heart of the debt.

Peter probably didn’t understand this Parable fully until he saw Jesus hanging on the cross of Calvary.  It was at this time that the story probably made sense to him.  Jesus died on the Cross to pay the debt for our sin – even when we didn’t merit it – even before we asked for forgiveness.  We live post Calvary and we should grasp how important forgiveness is to us and our relationship with Jesus!  It clears our hearts of the baggage of debt.

Andy Stanley has four steps that might help us with forgiveness – and I urge our blog readers to read his book.  The four steps are: 1) Identify who you’re angry with (someone who owes you), 2) Determine what they owe you, 3) Cancel the debt, and 4) Dismiss the case.  His teaching is too long for this post – but these four steps might interest you enough to read his book.  I highly recommend it.  It was the first book I read while on leave.  I will write about them more later.

The Bible constantly reminds us to forgive.  We should practice forgiveness – always – because we are the forgiven.  Something that hit me in this book – forgiveness is more about my relationship with Jesus than my relationship with the person who might owe me!  Ephesians 4:32 – Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

Just something to think about today as you go on your way.

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