“Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.”
Jesus in Matthew 6:12
Anyone who has lived for any length of time has been wronged in some way – it’s the way of man. Of course, we also have wronged others. Forgiveness is costly – this moves far beyond the happy feelings of praise or the thankful feelings of abundance and blessing – it drives to the core of what it means to be Christian. What often happens in wider culture is that we will not admit sin nor will we forgive the sins of another, so we get into the legal process with all its tension and animosity.
For a Christian, we are sometimes faced with wrongs that actually cost us something to forgive. What about when it involves money? What about when we are at odds with another Christian in our church? What about when our son or daughter loses a marriage and we are called upon to choose sides? Are we willing to suffer the pain and leave the judging with God? Are we prepared to let the offender off the hook? A little piece like this cannot answer all the questions, but we can look at a story Jesus told to Peter in Matthew 18.
A servant owed his master millions of dollars and was brought before him to determine repayment – which was an impossibility. He implored the master for more time, and the master took pity on him and forgave the debt. Later, the master discovered that this servant was owed a few dollars by a fellow servant. The forgiven one grabbed the debtor by the throat and demanded repayment, throwing him into debtor’s prison. When the master discovered this affront, he threw the offending servant in prison until the debt should be repaid – in other words, a life sentence. Obviously, the master is God, the indebted servant is you and me, and the fellow servant is a person needing our forgiveness. At the end of the story, Jesus said: “This is how my heavenly father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother/sister from your heart” (vs 35).
This concept has spiritual implications but also psychological ones. How can we fully appreciate and receive God’s full forgiveness if we ourselves will not forgive another? A while ago, I dropped and broke a drinking glass. After a week or two I realized I had a glass chip in my finger – it was a little knife on the inside stabbing me every day. I went to the doctor to have it dug out. He said it was quite deep and to leave it in would be for it to move around and cause constant hassle. I almost fainted as he dug around but what freedom when he pulled it out!
You probably know someone who was wronged 30 years ago that only has to have it scratched a bit and it is recited as if it happened yesterday. In the end it isn’t good for our health to hold grudges. The saying is true: “Forgiveness is setting a prisoner free and then discovering the prisoner was you.”
Forgiving is not forgetting. I have chosen to forgive some sins done against me, but they did cause me a lot of pain. Every once in a while, one of these incidents rears its head – that is when I declare afresh that I have forgiven this thing and I refuse to dwell on it. It is at these times that we keep our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who, on the cross said “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.”
What issue roars to the front when you think about this topic? What is the Holy Spirit saying to you about it? What if you were to forgive – and set yourself free?
Pastor Leon Throness
