Jesus said in 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 the 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.”
I’ve read this so many times but today I gave it some real thought. I put it into context and applied it to my life. I know I’m supposed to forgive, all things. I say to the Lord, okay, I forgive him or I forgive her for cutting in front of me. I forgive them for stealing my parking space after I waited patiently for the other car to get backed out. I forgive that lady for hitting my shopping cart and knocking my groceries over and then not apologizing for her rudeness.
Then when the offenses get a little more difficult, forgiving takes a little more effort, a little more convincing that I have to do it, I need to do it. Not so much for them, I tell myself, but for myself, because the Word commands me to forgive and it’s what the Lord wants me to do.
I forgive them that they never paid back the money they owed. I forgive that lady for hitting my car when we were driving on the freeway and she didn’t have insurance and she never did pay for the damages as she promised. I forgive those people who hit my car in the parking lot and ramming the door into the front fender and they didn’t even leave a note of apology or offer to pay to repair the damages.
Then when the offenses get “big”, can I force myself to forgive. Do I just say I forgive and then keep holding onto the offense, holding it against them, figuring out how to balance the scales or how to compensate myself. Oh, I’d never try to get revenge because “Revenge is mine saith the Lord” and I tell myself He can get far better revenge than anything I could think of doing.
I will forgive my employer that they rarely give raises and when they do, it’s only 10cents or 15cents per hour. I will forgive that they hired a group of people and are paying that team $3 per hour more than what I’m getting paid, and I’ve worked for the company 11 years now with only two raises.
I will force myself to forgive.
After all, I must remember to be grateful that I still have a job, and I am grateful.
But it hurts to be treated as though I don’t matter, unappreciated.
And then I thought about Jesus. That He, who never committed any sin, suffered so much, for me. He paid the price for my sins. He forgave me so much. Every time I complain or am critical of those who have offended me, I am forgetting what Jesus did for me, which means I am the one being unappreciative of Him. And He has forgiven me for a lifetime of sins and faults and failings.
I do forgive those who have hurt me or been rude to me or done some kind of injustice to me because, really, those things are nothing compared to the sins for which the Lord has forgiven me. I will not hold them accountable for their offenses against me. I refuse to keep a record of those wrongs any more. I give them all to the Lord and I will not take them back. I will leave them with the Lord and let Him deal with them. I do not want vengeance either. I truly want to love them, the way God loves me and has extended mercy to me.
I want to remember those verses and have them etched into my heart. I want to be merciful, so that I can receive mercy because I’m sure that I will still need mercy and forgiveness, for as long as I am alive. So I will practice mercy and forgiveness. Bad habits die hard, but they can be broken. I wish the Lord would just change my heart and my bad habits, but I’m sure He wants me to learn to live out the scriptures that I read. That’s how character is built and that’s how faith is built.
I have a new perspective on forgiving and extending mercy. It’s so liberating, to release those who have offended me. I am the one who is set free. I’m sure that’s why the Lord instructed us to forgive (Matthew 6:14), because He knows it benefits us the most to be forgiving. I’ve read that holding grudges can cause all sorts of illness and disease, so forgiving can benefit our health too.
Think about how the Lord Jesus even forgave those men who pierced those nails through his wrists and feet, how He forgives even those who hate Him. That’s the best picture of forgiveness and mercy and love!
written by Brother Lawrence (Nicholas Herman) born in 1611 in France, died in 1691 at age 80 AND the letters of Frank Laubach from the twentieth century. Both of these men chronicled their experiences practicing the presence of Jesus Christ.
