It’s So Simple Forgive
Part Eight
Ah, forgiveness! Isn’t that a wonderful feeling to be forgiven? A second look allows me to see the entire phrase. “Forgive us our debts (ahhh)… as we forgive our debtors. What!?! As we forgive our debtors? Houston we have a problem. As we forgive our debtors… oh no, I see a potential predicament. Another way to say this is forgive me the same way I forgive others. Ouch! That will bring ones forgiveness buzz to a screeching halt. Now I have to determine how I forgive others. Do I? And if I do, do I do it with grace or do I do it begrudgingly? Is the forgiveness from my head or my heart? So many thoughts so little brain power.
Ok, let’s see what scripture has to say about this. At the end of the Lord’s Prayer Jesus says in Matt 6:14-15 "For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” Hmmm, seems pretty clear doesn’t it?
To make the point even stronger in Matt 18:23-32 Jesus tells the parable of the worker who owed his king money. The king said pay and the man begged for his dept to be forgiven and the king forgave him. The man then went out and saw a man that owed him far less than he had just been forgiven. But instead of forgiving, he threw the other man in jail! Nice… however, the other workers had seen all of this and they went and told the king what the ingrate had done. The king was not happy and when he got a hold of the man, well… let’s just say it didn’t go well for the ingrate. Then Matt 18:35 says "This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart."
“From your heart”, double ouch! I guess I need to spend some time in my prayer closet and do some heart cleaning… it’s bad enough that I have to clean my house but now I have to clean my heart? If I stop and think about it, even if I don’t like cleaning my house, once it’s done I feel so good. I bet it’s the same with my heart. And of course, it’s so simple!
Ok, let’s see what scripture has to say about this. At the end of the Lord’s Prayer Jesus says in Matt 6:14-15 "For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” Hmmm, seems pretty clear doesn’t it?
To make the point even stronger in Matt 18:23-32 Jesus tells the parable of the worker who owed his king money. The king said pay and the man begged for his dept to be forgiven and the king forgave him. The man then went out and saw a man that owed him far less than he had just been forgiven. But instead of forgiving, he threw the other man in jail! Nice… however, the other workers had seen all of this and they went and told the king what the ingrate had done. The king was not happy and when he got a hold of the man, well… let’s just say it didn’t go well for the ingrate. Then Matt 18:35 says "This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart."
“From your heart”, double ouch! I guess I need to spend some time in my prayer closet and do some heart cleaning… it’s bad enough that I have to clean my house but now I have to clean my heart? If I stop and think about it, even if I don’t like cleaning my house, once it’s done I feel so good. I bet it’s the same with my heart. And of course, it’s so simple!
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