Good Morning Friends,
“The kingdom of heaven is like a king who
wanted to settle accounts with his servants. A man who owed him ten thousand
talents was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered
that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the
debt. The servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he
begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ The master took pity on him, canceled
the debt and let him go. When that servant went out, he found one of his fellow
servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him.
‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded. His fellow servant fell to his knees
and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’ He refused. Instead,
he had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other
servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told
their master everything that had happened. The master called the servant in.
‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you
begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had
on you?’ His master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he
should pay back all he owed. This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of
you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.” (Matthew 18:23-35)
Our forgiveness of others should flow out of
the realization of how much God has forgiven us. But grudge-holding has grown
to epidemic proportions, even among those who have been forgiven by God.
We seem to enjoy holding on to hurts. Perhaps
it assuages our own guilt. To continue to hold someone responsible for his sins
may make our own sins seem less horrible. I don’t know all the reasons we hold
on to grudges, but I know it’s true of me and true of many others with whom I
have contact.
Consider how great your debt of sin was toward
God. Consider how great His forgiveness has been. Turn to those around you, and
forgive them!
His, by Grace, Steve
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