Is it easy for you to forgive people who offended you?
What do you think is easiest, to receive forgiveness from God or to forgive someone else?
Today I want to talk about a very important commandment from God’s word.
And the Message today is FORGIVENESS.
Mt 6:12 says “And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors”.
Jesus taught it in the Lord’s pray. And it seams that it was a subject that use to call the disciples attention.
There is a passage in Mt 18:21-35 that talks about it. Let’s read it.
21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, ‘Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?’
22 Jesus answered, ‘I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.
23 ‘Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold was brought to him. 25 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.
26 ‘At this the servant fell on his knees before him. “Be patient with me,” he begged, “and I will pay back everything.” 27 The servant’s master took pity on him, cancelled the debt and let him go.
28 ‘But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins. He grabbed him and began to choke him. “Pay back what you owe me!” he demanded.
29 ‘His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, “Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.”
30 ‘But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.
32 ‘Then the master called the servant in. “You wicked servant,” he said, “I cancelled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?” 34 In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
35 ‘This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.’
Jesus here is teaching about forgiveness, and he uses everyday situations to teach about a spiritual reality. At the time, the annual taxes of all the provinces of Israel combined were 800 talents. In this parable, a man alone owed 10,000 talents. One talent was the equivalent of about fifteen years of a full-time salary.
So, this guy would have to work for 150,000 (one hundred and fifty thousand) years to pay his debt. The people who were hearing the parable knew that this was mathematically impossible. This guy owed more than the entire wealth of the nations of that day. It’s like saying that the President called you into his Office and demanded that you pay off the national debt.
It is not obvious in the parable, but the King here is Jesus at the cross.
He said from a cross of injustice, “Father, forgive them. They don’t know what they are doing.” Most of the time I think we did know what we were doing, but he died for us anyway.
In verse 26 The man asked for mercy, patience- in Greek is makrothumason – an extension of time, a delay. This man’s idea of forgiveness was a postponement of payment but the King forgave him entirely, he cancelled the debt.
This man, after receiving great forgiveness from his Master has the following thought: “I will go charge those who owe me”. Even though he received Grace he wasn’t able to share it with others. So, he went after his friend for 100 denarii.
Since he could not understand God’s principle of forgiveness, he could not extend it to others.
Consequences: People who do not forgive or are not forgiven. When we hold grudges in our hearts and we can’t forgive, we suffer from feelings of guilt and resentment, we live in an emotional prison, where we are tortured by all kinds of emotional conflict.
Let’s understand God’s principles.
God is love but also righteous. When we walk in truth and justice, we are aligned with him.
“We become profoundly human when we are willing to confess that we were wrong, that we have sinned, and that we need forgiveness.” By Dan Boone
In the worldly system, when we do something wrong, commit a crime, (sin), we go to court, we are judged and if we are convicted of our fault, we are condemned. We go to jail and we stay there until our debts are paid.
How does it work in God’s Kingdom? The Holy Spirit is the one who convicts us of our faults or sin. He shows us our mistakes, but he never attacks our character. He will show you that you lied but he will never call you a Liar because you are a son/daughter of God. He will work to convict you until you repent.
Then, before the court of God, there is the Accuser who will try to condemn you but there is Jesus too. He offered himself in our place. It means you don’t need to pay for your debt, Jesus already suffered for you. After you repent you are free to go. If you still feel condemned or guilty, it’s not God, but yourself or the enemy that is condemning you.
(Rm 8:1/ Rev 12:10,11)
Mt 6:12 says “And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors”.
We have some principles in our minds, that I believe were given by God, like our conscience; with it we are able to discern good and evil.
When we do something wrong, we sin. We always look for ways to atone, to compensate for our mistakes, and pay for our debts.
When we are feeling guilt, because we made a mistake we usually say: – “I have to pay for it”- we penalize ourselves.
But when someone does something against us, we have this tendency to be the judge, we feel angry with others and we say “they deserve to be punished, they should be the ones to pay for my pain.”
And so, we kill this person in our hearts and we take them into prison with the collectors and executioners who accuse nonstop.
The name of these accusers are- feelings of guilt, resentment, and self-condemnation. Those accusers produce conflicts inside of us, stress and all sorts of psychological problems. 75% of people hospitalized today suffer from emotional problems.
The servant in the parable did not understand that he had been 100% forgiven and therefore he went out charging his companions. When we do not understand God’s forgiveness, we are prisoners of resentment, feelings of guilt, self-effort and affliction.
As he felt he had a debt, he thought he still had to pay it and collect the debts of his debtors.
The good news of the gospel needs to penetrate our hearts and be expressed in our attitudes, it is not enough just to sing songs about it. It needs to be part of our way of leaving. It must change the way we behave.
Grace is not just an undeserved favour from God. It’s something we can never achieve by our own efforts and is also something that we will never be able to repay.
How do I know I’m not enjoying the grace of God? It is when I’m still moved by feelings of guilt, and self-righteousness, I try to please God, read the Bible more, pray more and do evangelistic work. It is when I serve God not out of love but in seeking my conscience’s relief. I try to please people, like Martha, Mary’s sister worried and troubled.
We act like the servant in the parable, we think we still have a debt with the Lord, a promissory note.
We do not bestow this forgiveness and unconditional love to others.
Who does not understand forgiveness cannot forgive, that is why in the passage we see that he went off to charge his friend straight after his audition with the King.
Those who suffer rejection will normally reject others, those who do not receive forgiveness cannot forgive, and those who do not receive grace will not grant grace. As a consequence of this, we have emotional conflicts and we break up relationships with others.
Three tests for you to know if you need to forgive someone:
- Resentment. Are you resenting someone? Resentment is a complex, multilayered emotion that has been described as a mixture of disappointment, disgust, anger, and fear. Do you have this feeling towards any family member or someone that hurt you in the past?
- Responsibility. Do you blame others for how you turned out? I am an angry because that did this to me. In many cases, to forgive others is to take responsibility for our own mistakes. Remember, when a disagreement or a problem takes place in a relationship there will always be two sides to the story. When we act in a certain way it is because someone did something. I have never seen a person fighting with themselves. A fight is always between two people.
- Triggers – names, places or situations that bring back memories, emotions or feelings of resentment. Maybe it means that you need to release forgiveness because that wound was never fully healed.
Conclusion
What’s the status of your little black IOU book (“I owe you,”)? Is it filled with names of those who lied to you, stole from you, took advantage of you, raped you, cheated on you, or intentionally hurt you?
Hear me carefully. Be angry. What was done to you was not right in the sight of God. But do not live into your anger. Release this person into God’s hands for Him to operate His mercy and justice towards them. And be free to forgive as God has forgiven you.
You are empowered by the Spirit of God to resemble God by taking the posture of forgiveness.
How can you solve the problem?
1- Forgive and release forgiveness by confession and repentance. Only then we will be free from accusers and executioners.
2 – We need to adopt a new lifestyle. We must be people who do not work to change others but be the one who accepts everyone. The only person you can change is yourself.
The Master tore up the writing of debts, He doesn’t charge us anymore, and He didn’t give us a deadline of later payments.
Everything has already been paid!!!!
And as He freed us from our debt, we also need to release others, thus putting into action the forces of love and grace.
Rom 13:8 “Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law”.
Mt 10.8 b “Freely you have received; freely give.”
Forgiveness ; Songwriters: Matthew Joseph West / Matthew West
The song was inspired by the true story of Renee Napier, who chose to forgive Eric Smallridge, a drunk driver who took the life of her 20-year-old daughter.
It’s the hardest thing to give away
And the last thing on your mind today
It always goes to those who don’t deserve
It’s the opposite of how you feel
When they pain they caused is just too real
Takes everything you have to say the word
Forgiveness, forgiveness
It flies in the face of all your pride
It moves away the mad inside
It’s always anger’s own worst enemy
Even when the jury and the judge
Say you’ve got a right to hold a grudge
It’s the whisper in your ear saying set it free
Forgiveness, forgiveness
Forgiveness, forgiveness
Show me how to love the unlovable
Show me how to reach the unreachable
Help me now to do the impossible
Forgiveness, forgiveness
Help me now to do the impossible
Forgiveness
It’ll clear the bitterness away
It can even set a prisoner free
There is no end to what its power can do
So let it go and be amazed by what you see through eyes of grace
The prisoner that it really frees is you
Forgiveness, forgiveness
Forgiveness, forgiveness
Show me how to love the unlovable
Show me how to reach the unreachable
Help me now to do the impossible
Forgiveness
I want finally set it free
Show me how to see what your mercy sees
Help me now to give what You gave to me
Forgiveness, forgiveness
Forgiveness, forgiveness