“A man owed his master 10,000 bags of gold… he fell on his knees and begged for patience and a chance to pay him back… The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt, and let him go. That same forgiven and freed servant the went out, found a fellow servant who owed him a hundred silver coins. He grabbed and choked him, demanded repayment, then had him thrown into debtor’s prison… It didn’t go so well for this unmerciful servant when his master found out about his grace-less heart and action.” (Summary paraphrase of Matthew18:21-35)
Heavenly Father, this story shocks, offends, scares, and humbles us. And well it should. By your Holy Spirit, reignite the glorious reality of our “10,000 bags of gold” forgiveness from you. May we never dis-believe it, under-believe it, or take our 100% forgiveness for granted. And help us with the daily, challenging, not-always-easy work of forgiving others.
To forgive isn’t to “let someone off the hook.” That’s what we do when we release fish we tricked into taking our bait. To forgive is to stay humbled, astonished, and grateful for how you have fully forgiven us, and then to extend that same mercy and grace to others. We are to forgive others as you have forgiven us in Christ, period. It’s often messy, complex, and costly—but you “finance” both our forgiveness and our forgiving.
Father, thank you… we aren’t doormats on which people wipe their sinful feet and dirty Birkenstocks; but we are to be doorways to stories of mercy, grace, and redemption. What an honor and what a challenge. If we choose otherwise, the price of bitterness, resentment, and unforgiveness is too costly and deadly to calculate. May the wonder of our forgiveness be 10,000 times more precious than the “crazy-making” of our most painful relationships. So Very Amen.