January 25 - Matthew 18: Seventy Times Seven

The king summoned the man and said, "You evil servant! I forgave your entire debt [ten-thousand talents] when you begged me for mercy. Shouldn't you be compelled to be merciful to your fellow servant when asked for mercy?" The king was furious and put the screws to the man until he paid back his entire debt. And that's exactly what my Father in heaven is going to do to each one of you who doesn't forgive unconditionally anyone who asks for mercy. (18:32-35)

I needed to hear this today. For reasons I don't fully understand, some old hurts are on my mind, causing a lot of resentment in my heart. As I think about two situations in particular, I keep reminding God that I tried to follow His commands for working things out, but reconciliation never happened. It still hasn't happened.

And what's most galling of all to me is that the others never actually asked for forgiveness. They obviously don't see their need for it, or if they did, they didn't ask me for it. So do I still have to forgive them?? Or am I justified in my resentment?

At that point, Peter got up the nerve to ask, "Master, how many times do I forgive a brother or sister who hurts me? Seven?" 

Jesus replied, "Seven! Hardly. Try seventy times seven." (18:21-22)

Apparently their lack of acknowledgement of their sin doesn't let me off the hook. Sigh. God still calls on me to forgive others unconditionally. How many times? Seventy times seven, which means as often as a brother sins, as many times as that may be.

So I wrestle with my heart today, reminding myself to walk in the forgiveness I've already extended to these people and of how much God has forgiven me.

"The parable doesn't speak directly to the number of times we are to forgive, but to the basis of our forgiving one another...It cost the king tremendously to forgive his servant's debt. In the same manner, it cost God to forgive us. It cost Him the death of His Son...The message should be clear. The moral debt of wrongdoing, of sinful words and acts against us, is virtually nothing compared to our debt to God. I'm not minimizing the seriousness of hurts or damages you may have experienced...[b]ut compared to the damage each of us has done to God's glory, it's a small amount.

"This basis of our forgiving one another, then, is the enormity of God's forgiveness of us. We are to forgive because we have been forgiven so much. Until we acknowledge that we are the ten-thousand talent debtor to God, we will struggle with forgiving people who have wronged u in significant ways or people who continue to wrong us." Jerry Bridges, Respectable Sins: Confronting the Sins We Tolerate

Father, I confess that I've been seeing myself as the wronged party in these situations. I've taken my eyes off of You and put them squarely on how I feel about the offenses against me. I pray that You would keep reminding me that I continue to sin against You daily, in word and deed, yet You generously and patiently keep giving me unconditional forgiveness.

May I continue to remember that You are sovereign, particularly in these situations; that You've called me and empowered me to love others by faith, which includes forgiving unconditionally; and finally, that my sin against You, in comparison to what's been done to me, is far more egregious. Thank You for the gift of Jesus and the enormous price He paid for my forgiveness.