By Allen White
“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 bags of gold 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.
“At this 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 silver coins. 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 it 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 outraged 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 handed 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 or sister from your heart.” Matthew 18:23-35
For my children, forgiveness is easy. I would even say it’s cheap. They pick on each other and fight like children do. When one of them is hurt or upset, we ask the offender to apologize. It usually goes something like this:
Offender: “I’m sorry.”
Offended: “That’s okay.”
Sometimes we do this sort of exchange too. The problem is that if someone has hurt or offended another, it’s not okay. If it was okay, it wouldn’t hurt. If it was okay, it wouldn’t matter. If it was okay, no apology is necessary. If it’s okay, then what will keep them from doing it again and again? It’s not okay. It does matter.
“I forgive you” are the three most powerful words on the planet. You don’t deserve my forgiveness. In fact, what you deserve looks more like punishment, wrath and resentment. But, forgiveness trumps all of that.
Some things seem impossible to forgive. But, when we think of what Christ bore on the cross, we must remember that no one has wounded us more deeply than the wounds Jesus suffered on our behalf. If in Christ’s power, He can forgive all that we’ve done (and have yet to do), then in Christ’s power, we can also forgive. Don’t get me wrong. What they did is not “Okay.”
The last sentence of this parable is a bit perplexing: “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart” (Matthew 18:35). The Father is going to treat us how?
In the previous paragraph, we see the unmerciful servant was locked up in prison until he paid every cent he owned. Is God going to throw us in jail? Is God going to revoke His forgiveness of our sins?
When we harbor resentment and unforgiveness, we put ourselves in an emotional prison. Rather than releasing someone through forgiveness, we have bound something on earth that is now bound in Heaven. We are the inmate, and our unwillingness to forgive is the jailer. The key to our emotional cell door is forgiveness.
If you don’t think this affects you, then let’s do a quick check up:
How short is your fuse these days?
How bare is your pantry or your liquor cabinet?
How high is your blood pressure?
How empty is your bank account?
How many once new toys sit abandoned in your garage?
How many hours do you clock in at work?
How tense were the family holidays?
You and I cannot avoid our way out of this prison. If we ignore things, they will not go away. In fact, the longer we delay, the worse we make things for ourselves.
But, we think, “It’s not fair. They were the offender, not me.” When it comes to spiritual things, the last thing we want is fair. If Christ was fair with us, we would continue to carry the guilt and shame for all of our sins and eventually pay the price of eternal separation from God. We don’t want fair. We need Jesus.
What has ticked you off about today’s devotional? What person came to mind? What seems impossible to forgive?
Nothing is impossible with God. Ask Him to help you forgive what seems impossible for you to forgive. Isn’t it time to free yourself from that prison?
More from Allen White: allenwhite.org
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