32. Then the master called the servant in. You
wicked servant, he said, I cancelled all that debt of yours because you begged
me to. 33.
Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on
you? 34.
In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until
he should pay back all he owed. 35. This is how my heavenly Father will treat each
of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.
Matthew 18:32-35 NIV
In my walk with Christ, one of the most difficult things I’ve
found from talking to people, is their ability and or willingness to forgive.
Some want to do it but don’t quite know how to, other than to simply mouth the
words. And then there are people who feel it just isn’t fair to “let people off
that easy.” In today’s text we see how the tables have turned for a servant who
in earlier Scriptures, have asked his master to forgive him of all his debts.
The master does so with compassion, but later finds that the servant was faced
with the same dilemma and chose not to forgive the person.
What is it that causes us to believe we’re the only ones in
need of forgiveness and compassion? Why can’t we extend the same courtesy that
others extend to us or the forgiveness God Himself extends to us? If I may,
please allow me to help in this matter. If we love God, we will obey His Word.
His Word teaches us, if we DO NOT forgive, He will NOT forgive us. So first and
foremost, we should want to forgive others out of love for the Father, and
secondly, we should want to forgive because it frees us from torment (tortured).
Verse 34 states he was handed over to the jailors to be
tortured. If we do not forgive, we put ourselves at risk to be tormented by the
enemy over something we have no control over. That’s right! We can’t control
the actions of others but we most certainly can control how we respond. If you’re
looking for a way to forgive, examine your heart, move with compassion, react
to obedience and FORGIVE from your heart and
not just your mouth!
Remember, it’s time for the table to be turned!
Your thoughts!
Thank you Tricia. I have been struggling with this. My problem is a believe I have forgiven him, my brother, in my heart but chose not to add him to my friends list in Facebook. Does that mean I didn't forgive him? I don't like the way he treated my father and I don't like the way he took advantage of me. I forgiven him because that is what God has taught me and that is what God does for me but I just have no desire to interact with him.
ReplyDeleteHe there woman of God. I believe, and this is from my personal experience, is that we've truly forgiven when there''s no more negative emotion's involved.Sure we are to learn from the situation how to interact with the person, but if there's still I'll will, then the process of forgiving is not complete. Oftentimes this does not happen overnight because your heart has to catch up with you mouth and emotions. I had to genuinely pray for the person''s soul because they weren't saved at the time and this gave me the compassion God said I needed towards him. When we truly want to forgive we must ask for God''s help and He will do it!
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