Do you know what I love most about Jesus’ disciples? They were real people, and chronically human. They struggled with the same things we do, and the Bible is authentic enough to share those struggles with us.
One of those authentic moments is recorded in Matthew 18, as Peter asked Jesus, “Lord, how often do I forgive my brother? Seven times?” The Jewish rabbis of that day taught that three times was the standard. So it appears Peter was demonstrating a bit of spiritual virtue signaling.
In response, Jesus gave them the following parable.
"For this reason, the Kingdom of Heaven can be compared to a king who decided to bring his accounts up to date with servants who had borrowed money from him. In the process, one of his debtors was brought in who owed him millions of dollars. He couldn't pay, so the king ordered that he, his wife, his children, and everything he had be sold to pay the debt. But the man fell down before the king and begged him, ‘Oh, sir, be patient with me, and I will pay it all.' Then the king was filled with pity for him, and he released him and forgave his debt.
"But when the man left the king, he went to a fellow servant who owed him a few thousand dollars. He grabbed him by the throat and demanded instant payment. His fellow servant fell down before him and begged for a little more time. ‘Be patient and I will pay it,' he pleaded. But his creditor wouldn't wait. He had the man arrested and jailed until the debt could be paid in full.
"When some of the other servants saw this, they were very upset. They went to the king and told him what had happened. Then the king called in the man he had forgiven and said, ‘You evil servant! I forgave you that tremendous debt because you pleaded with me. Shouldn't you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?' Then the angry king sent the man to prison until he had paid every penny. "That's what my heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters in your heart" (Matthew 18:23-35 NLT).
Jesus’ point? Never forget the sin debt Christ cancelled for you!
We can only forgive other people to the degree that we realize how much Christ has forgiven us. In this parable, Jesus was simply saying, if we will just remember the lifetime of sin God has forgiven us of, then we will be empowered to say “I forgive you” to those who have hurt us, without restraint.
My Challenge
“We all must die and everyone living should think about this” (Ecclesiastes 7:2).
Life is short, and eternity awaits us; while we are still living, we should think about this! We should think about living in light of eternity and we should think about leaving a Godly legacy.
Over the next 30 days, live your life as if all you had left were those 30 days, and make it a point to simply say the right words.
Learn to say the right words to others. Say “I love you,” to your spouse, your kids, your friends, and your family. Say, “I’m sorry,” to the people you’ve hurt, because of the things you’ve said or done. And say, “I forgive you,” to those who have hurt you, so that when you leave this earth, you can truly leave the ultimate God-honoring legacy.
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