Of all the lessons the Lord has taught me, there is one that tops them all. It may be one of the most difficult commands in which we are instructed to obey.
There was a servant, living in a kingdom.
This servant owed the king a great debt.
The servant was brought before the king, and asked to settle his account. But the servant could not pay it. So the king commands that the servant, along with his wife and children, be sold in exchange for the debt. Falling down before the king, the servant begs for mercy. He asks for time to repay the debt.
The act of the king is incredibly admirable! The king has pity on the man, and through a heart filled with compassion, he forgives the man the entire debt for which he owed. The slate was clean. The servant was no longer in debt to the king.
You would expect that the servant’s following actions would reflect the kindness and mercy which were shown to him. Quite the contrary! The servant went out and found a fellow servant who owed him a small fraction of the amount of debt which he was forgiven. In today’s money it was like $100, but he had owed the king $1,000,000. He demanded that the fellow servant repay him the $100. But the other servant couldn’t repay it. The other servant begged for mercy, and time to repay the debt. But the forgiven servant would not extend it and had him thrown into jail.
When the king heard about this, he was angry and forced him to repay every last penny of the $1,000,000.
You see, the struggle of the young servant is the same struggle we battle. When we receive, we receive gladly with an open hand, but when we have the opportunity to give, our hands tighten around the very things we are so graciously given. At the top of that list is forgiveness.
When I wrote about Hope last week, the circumstances were such that I was needing to forgive. Pridefully, I didn’t want to forgive. In a twisted sense, it feels “temporarily” satisfying to hold an offense against someone. After all, THEY wronged US and deserve it, (which is how we justify the sin of unforgiveness). What we fail to realize is that harboring unforgiveness causes bitterness, and hinders the Spirit from flowing freely in our lives. It hinders our prayers, and our effectiveness in the Kingdom of God. Everything comes to halt in our growth in the Lord, and we truly cannot move forward again until it is resolved. Plus, it hurts us more in the end.
“Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony.” Colossians 3:12-14 NLT
Putting ourselves into the story of the servant causes us to see that not only do we withhold forgiveness, but we clench our fists tightly around so many other things which are so freely given to us. Our money is not our own, it belongs to God. Our children are not our own, they belong to God. Our possessions, every last one of them, are a gift from the Father above, to us and belong to Him. Our time, is not our own, it belongs to God. Yet we think of all these things as “mine.” We claim them selfishly and have a hard time practicing the sacrifice of giving.
As I contemplate giving forgiveness, a few other things come to mind:
-Forgiveness isn’t a feeling. It’s a choice.
-If I remain in unforgiveness, that too is a choice.
-The person who offended doesn’t have to be sorry in order for me to forgive.
-Above all else I must clothe myself with love. I should put it on as a garment. It is the greatest commandment; love the Lord your God with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself.
“Freely you have received, freely give.” Matthew 10:8 NKJV
Friend, if you have never received the forgiveness of God for your own wrongs against Him, He is offering it to you right now. It is through the blood of Jesus that God made forgiveness possible. The penalty of sin is death. We owe God; we are in debt to him. We have ALL sinned against Him. But God extended mercy to us, by becoming flesh, dwelling among us, and dying in our place. It is through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ that we are offered Salvation. This gift of God grants us eternal life, a gift we cannot earn on our own. We can never be “good enough” for God. It is only through Jesus that we can be clean, made new, forgiven. He paid your debt because He loves you so much. Ask Him right now to forgive you. Believe in Jesus for Salvation!
If you have done this for the first time, contact me! I’d love to encourage you in this decision.
Father, thank you for forgiving me. I stand in awe that you desire a relationship with me. I am overwhelmed by what you did in taking my sin and shame upon yourself, and dying in my place. I am humbly yours. Help me to forgive, just as I have been so graciously forgiven.
