“Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. So also My heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.” Matt. 18:32-35
Devotional Thought For The Day
We are often compelled, in these days of confusion in regard to right and wrong, to pound away at the “debts” of others – the things they have done wrong, especially if they have “sinned” against us. Of course, often what people today deem to be “sins” are in fact merely things that displease or offend them, not violations of God’s Word, His will, or love. While we may be personally and emotionally impacted by these things – and others should be caring and compassionate enough to apologize – these are not matters that require forgiveness but rather forbearance and tolerance. Part of the confusion in regard to right and wrong is not only the refusal to call evil things evil, but also the inclusion of “adiophora,” things neither commanded nor forbidden in Scripture, indifferent matters, into the category of things that are evil. There are many things that annoy us that are not immoral or evil – including, for example, the person driving in front of us who is observing the actual speed limit. If God commands us to forgive even the real sins of others, it is obvious that we should not allow such minor irritations to destroy relationships. If it is spiritually dangerous to nurture a lack of forgiveness toward the sins of others, how much more despicable is it that we harbor ill-will toward others on the basis of mere annoyance? Lord, have mercy!
Forgiveness, however, is reserved for real sins. When Jesus speaks of “debts” and forgiveness, He is not talking about mere annoyances or things that offend our private and personal sensibilities. Such “offenses” are to be overlooked and of no consequence – in recognition that we all have our oddities and idiosyncrasies. What He is talking about are real sins, real violations of God’s law and the way of genuine love. These are the things that we must be forgiving one another. His warning is quite serious: “So also My heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.” So, while we have due concern over the erosion of morality and growing ignorance in regard to what is sin [what God declares to be sin], we must take care not to allow our moral indignation at the sins of others to preclude or even diminish our own moral responsibility to forgive just as we have been forgiven. It is a sad fallibility of fallen mankind that we often think that the best way to combat one evil is with another, that the antidote to moral laxity is self-righteous legalism. If we are to be “imitators of God” [Eph. 5:1], however, we must not only stand firm in the correct and proper distinction between good and evil, and be unalterably opposed to sin, we must also “be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you” [Eph. 4:32] and “walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us.” [Eph. 5:2] We will not escape the consequence Jesus speaks of by arguing our ardor for morality as an excuse for not forgiving others.
What is really at issue is faith and our knowledge of God, and having our hearts shaped by a real and genuine experience of God’s love. The one not forgiving demonstrates that they are yet to believe, to experience, and to be shaped by God’s loving forgiveness and mercy in Christ Jesus – that they are yet to believe in Jesus, to believe God’s Son. This is what remands a person to isolation from God and imprisonment in the darkness – and it is a judgment meted out upon oneself in rejection of God’s gracious mercy and forgiveness, as they mete out “un-forgiveness” and malice toward others. The proof of this condition of impenitence and unbelief is refusal to forgive and to be kind and tenderhearted to others – even when they have sinned against us; and to harbor ill-will when they have merely “offended” us or stepped on our sensibilities. Sadly, there are many people afflicted with this hardness of heart and coldness of love even within the church today – perhaps especially within the church today, and this also is ignorance of God and spiritual death. For our own temptations, tendencies, and predilections to this wretched “piety,” we need humble ourselves in deepest repentance, and pray God to soften our own hearts with His grace, mercy, and forgiveness – before it is too late for us. But if we turn back to Him, embracing the sacrifice of His Son and His redemption, we will always find a gracious and welcoming Heavenly Father. And this alone enables, frees, and compels us to be forgiving others.
It is a curious thing, how our sinful nature constantly compels us to be moving toward either moral laxity or toward super-heightened self-righteousness. The way of God, of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, is the difficult way – holding to love of good, which includes hatred of evil, while at the same time having compassion, mercy, forgiveness, and love for all people. But this is what God is, the only True and Living God, and we are called to follow Jesus and to imitate God. May He grant us constant repentance and deep faith in His gracious love, that we may grow in reflecting Him to others.
Prayer For The Day
Dear Lord Jesus, as You must gaze at the fall and sins of Your dear children, perhaps even more tragically and sorrowfully You must suffer observing our hardness of heart and our unwillingness to forgive others. Have mercy on us, and keep us from such terrible commitment to sin and unbelief. Help us to grow not only in our commitment to good but also in our commitment to truly love one another, and to forgive all sins. Forbid that we become so trite and superficial that we allow mere offenses to destroy our relationships. Have mercy on us, that we may learn to become more like You. Amen.