Forgiving in Perspective

What does it mean to forgive? When we forgive, we release the guilt of another. We cease to judge them for the offense, pain, or injury they have caused us. In Matthew 18:23-35, Jesus teaches us that forgiveness is the only right response to the grace of God. In one sense, forgiving isn't forgetting. Apart from disease, toxins, or trauma, there aren't many ways to erase a memory from the brain. In another sense, forgiving is forgetting. It is forgetting in the sense that we don't dwell on incident, and we don't wield another's past crimes as a weapon against them.

Jesus tells a parable about a slave who owes his master an unimaginable amount of money, yet has no way to repay it. When his account is called due, he begs for mercy. Mercy, beyond his dreams, is what he receives. He celebrates his good fortune by accosting a man who owes him money, and has the poor fellow tossed in prison when he can't pay. When the first slave's master hears of his cruelty, he revokes his mercy and tosses him into prison.

Here are some things this passage teaches us:

God would be totally just to condemn the entire human race to hell. We have all broken his law, and disobeyed his will. We are all deserving of death. Yet, God in his mercy has shown us grace. Grace is unmerited favor. Unmerited means it isn't because we deserve it. Just as the king had a right to sell of his slave to recoup his losses, God could have easily discarded us, but he didn't. He extended mercy to us.

When we receive the grace of God, it should evidence itself in a changed heart. The first servant in this parable was some piece of work. In spite of his master's grace, he himself had none to spare. He never paused to think of the magnitude of the gift he was given. He was a violent and wicked man.

Live the golden rule. This man got in trouble because he failed to treat others in the way he wished to be treated. He wanted to receive mercy, but he didn't want to give any. If we want grace, we need to extend grace to others.

Nothing has been done to you, that is greater to (or equal to) what has been done for you. The worst act in human history would be the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. In that act, we see the depth of depravity of which mankind is capable. However, God did not condemn mankind because of the cross. No, he determined to save mankind through the cross. The pains and offenses we face in our lives don't compare to the cross.

You reap what you sow. Matthew 18:35 isn't suggesting salvation by works. It is expressing another truth, the truth that a man reaps what he sows. God isn't fooled by the attempts of some people to fake remorse. He knows the heart. The heart that refuses to forgive has never experienced God's forgiveness. Forgiveness is a mandate. As we forgive, we walk in the footsteps of our Heavenly Father and our brother, Jesus Christ. It puts forgiving in perspective.