Forgiveness

“Therefore, 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 his master ordered that he be sold—along with his wife, his children, and everything he owned—to pay the debt. “But the man fell down before his master and begged him, ‘Please, be patient with me, and I will pay it all.’ Then his master 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 with me, and I will pay it,’ he pleaded. But his creditor wouldn’t wait. He had the man arrested and put in prison 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 everything that 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 to be tortured until he had paid his entire debt. “That’s what my heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters from your heart.” [Matthew 18.23-35]

Our forgiveness is found (as in "revealed") in our forgiving.

As we come into a relationship with Christ, our lives are no longer our own. We become servants, kings, and priests in the Kingdom of God. We are under authority to exercise all the authority of heaven. We have Jesus as our example of what this looks like.

In particular, we have the authority to forgive as well as the instruction to do so (Matthew 6.12).

We have no right to harbor unforgiveness against a single living soul. Our acceptance of God's forgiveness through the work of Jesus Christ is our release of any claim to offense for any sin against us.

Forgiveness is not ours - it is God's. It is God's forgiveness we receive and God's forgiveness we give. We are simply stewards of the Kingdom (for God so loved the world... He gave - ie.forgave).

That is why Jesus forgave sins. He was showing us (not just telling us) how a real relationship with God works. We have all the authority of heaven - including the authority to forgive. We are ambassadors of Christ - and what is that if it is not forgiveness?

How might our testimony and the world be changed if we too would exercise our Kingdom authority to forgive?

Father, help me to be reminded of the lesson here always.