Matthew 18:23-35
“For this reason, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his slaves. As he began settling his accounts, a man who owed 10,000 talents was brought to him. Because he was not able to repay it, the lord ordered him to be sold, along with his wife, children, and whatever he possessed, and repayment to be made. Then the slave threw himself to the ground before him, saying, ‘Be patient with me, and I will repay you everything.’ The lord had compassion on that slave and released him, and forgave him the debt. After he went out, that same slave found one of his fellow slaves who owed him 100 silver coins. So he grabbed him by the throat and started to choke him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ Then his fellow slave threw himself down and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will repay you.’ But he refused. Instead, he went out and threw him in prison until he repaid the debt. When his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were very upset and went and told their lord everything that had taken place. Then his lord called the first slave and said to him, ‘Evil slave! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me! Should you not have shown mercy to your fellow slave, just as I showed it to you?’ And in anger his lord turned him over to the prison guards to torture him until he repaid all he owed. So also my heavenly Father will do to you, if each of you does not forgive your brother from your heart.”
The Scriptures quoted are from the NET Bible® http://netbible.com copyright ©1996, 2019 used with permission from Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. All rights reserved.
COMMENT & QUESTIONS
Why is forgiving so difficult? Why is it so beautiful in theory but so hard in practice?
In our culture, we give things to people based on merit. If someone deserves your time and effort, you happily give it to them. However, if someone doesn't deserve it, we are trained to not give it. Forgiveness is when we show mercy to someone when they don't deserve it. That's what makes it so hard.
One writer said that forgiveness is like the breath in your lungs. You can only keep breathing it in if you’re constantly breathing it out. We can’t receive forgiveness if we’re not giving it.
PRAYERS
Thank God for His wonderful forgiveness and mercy Pray that God forgives us our debts as we forgive our debtors
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