Do you want to be forgiven when you fail? How readily do you forgive those who injure you? These questions represent two sides of forgiveness brought out in the Lord’s prayer, “Forgive us as we forgive others.”
Being completely forgiven is wonderful! Completely forgiving someone else—well—that can be hard to do.
When Peter voiced his struggle with this, Jesus told a story about a king and his subjects (Matthew 18:23-35). The king, in settling his accounts, came to a servant who owed him a debt too large to ever repay in his lifetime. The servant pleaded for more time. The king knew more time wouldn’t free this servant from his debt. But, moved with compassion, the king forgave the whole debt.
The king said, “You’re free. No prison. You can keep your family and your possessions.” Imagine asking a bank for more time to pay off an exorbitant loan and having them forgive your whole debt! How would you respond to such grace?
A Shocking Response to Grace
How did the servant respond to grace? The forgiven servant found a fellow slave that owed him 100 day’s salary and threw him into jail for not being able to immediately pay him. No one wants to lose 100 days of salary, but after having a lifetime of debt canceled, what could possibly cause such a shocking response?
This servant had received grace beyond measure from a powerful superior. Had he not grasped what had happened? He’d asked for time. Maybe he thought he could repay the debt. To accept this incredible gift grated against his pride.
Christians should be the most gracious of people. But when we forget what we’ve received from God or minimize our need for salvation, we become bill collectors. We go through life trying to collect the love, respect, appreciation, apology, or attention we feel others owe us.
When we forget what we’ve received from God, we become bill collectors. We go through life trying to collect the love, respect, appreciation, apology, or attention we feel others owe us. #Grace, #Forgive Click To TweetCollecting keeps us tied to people who are unable or unwilling to pay. The servant didn’t realize his needs had been completely met. Nothing he collected could come close to what he’d already received. But he continued to collect and strive.
Applying the Grace to Forgive
- When we can’t forgive, we need to remember the great debt Jesus paid for us.
- If we find ourselves striving to gain acceptance from, or prove ourselves to, men or God, we need to understand the cleansing and worth poured out on us at the cross (2 Cor. 5:21).
- When we care more about our reputation, who people think we are, than our character, who God knows we are, we’re dismissing God’s grace to us.
- If we can’t admit when we are wrong, we have not understood that Christ took our shame. We no longer must blame others or make excuses, we can confess and let go (1 Jn. 1:9).
The king had the ungrateful slave turned over to the torturers. If you’ve ever harbored bitterness in your heart, you’ve met the torturers. Every time you see or think of the one you resent, you are tortured.
The solution? Return to the cross. When we savor the forgiveness and grace poured out on us through Christ, we can stop criticizing and collecting from others. We find the grace to forgive in the grace we received at Calvary.
LINKUP PARTY opens on April 12 at 6 am!
Christian Bloggers, come share your Blog with our audience below:
1. Add your Link.
2. Visit the blogger before or after and encourage them with a comment.
3. Share on social media. Click below to share on Twitter that you are joining us! We would love to have you follow the ministry on Twitter and Facebook as well: Soaring with Him FB Page
LINKUP is open. Join my friend @debbieWwilson as we find the grace to #forgive others. Share your blog! #RechargeWednesday Click To Tweet
You know, I had never thought about this parable from the standpoint that the forgiven servant didn’t even need the servant who owed him to pay. And what a vivid analogy that when we don’t accept grace, we become bill collectors of things that others can’t pay and that we’re indeed delivered to torturers. How we need to receive His grace and then extend it to others.
Barbara, yes. I don’t want to live with the torturers!
Wow! Debbie, you put this in a way I had not considered: “If you’ve ever harbored bitterness in your heart, you’ve met the torturers. Every time you see or think of the one you resent, you are tortured.”
This is the truth! Harboring bitterness is simply not worth it.
Jerralea, no it isn’t. We suffer, not the one who wronged us.
Beautiful and powerful message, Debbie. We do become bill collectors when we refuse to forgive and extend the grace that was exended to us through Christ.
Thanks, Karen.
Debbie, I love this statement, “But when we forget what we’ve received from God or minimize our need for salvation, we become bill collectors.” Most of us have a negative image of bill collectors so that really drives home the point.
Donna, I agree—a very unpleasant job. So why would I do it when God has covered my debt and needs?