The Parable of
the Unmerciful Servant
Matthew
18:23-28, 30, 34-35
Not everyone deals with unforgiveness
that defines their every waking moment, but some people are consumed with it.
They can't offer forgiveness to others because they haven't allowed the grace
of Jesus to transform their minds and soften their stony hearts. When you are
unable to receive Jesus love and allow it to change your heart, you are unable
to give forgiveness and unconditional love to other people. When you can't
forgive, you don't have healthy relationships and end up in emotional conflicts
that tear lives apart. When you can't receive and give God's grace, you end up
in a vicious cycle of unforgiveness. It is so sad that the servant in this
parable in Matthew didn’t realize that his debt was completely canceled, and in
his misunderstanding thought he still had to collect money in order to pay it
off.
What if that servant in the parable
had heard his master correctly? What if
the knowledge of his new debt-free state had penetrated his mind and heart? Joy
would have seized his heart. Peace would have settled fear in his mind. The
exorbitant amount owed to the master could have never been repaid any way. If
only that servant had received the message that the master had wiped his slate
clean! Jesus, your Master, wipes your slate clean. A miracle happens when the
grace of Jesus seeps into the depths of your very being. The vicious cycle of
unforgiveness ends. The unaccepted become the accepting. The unforgiven become
the forgiving. Emotional conflicts that
result from a hardened hearts are healed. The Holy Spirit flows, reviving and
healing, when you don't live with the heart of a debt-collector. If the servant
had received his master's forgiveness, he would have also forgiven the servant
who owed him money. He would have received the grace of the master, and passed
it on.
When you completely allow the grace of
Jesus to change your heart, you are free to give His love away with no
reservation. You just love because He first loved you. However, when you refuse
the forgiving grace of Jesus, you continue on like the debt-collecting servant
in the parable. Others “owe” you their affection and love. Since you feel
indebted and resentful, you pass on your anger and frustration. Unforgiveness
begets bitterness, and locks you in its debtor’s prison. But grace freely fosters
joy and peace, and sets you free.
Has His grace totally transformed your
heart to the place where you realize you are debt-free, and that you can pass
along that freedom to others? Is there someone you resent–someone you can't let
off the hook? Are you willing to accept responsibility for your own life and
not blame anyone else for it? Or do you
believe that someone else caused your life to be the way it is, and they “owe” you
for what they have done to you?
God offers your freedom from the debt
of your sin through the sacrifice of His son. At the cross Jesus took your
sins, failures, and hurts into himself so that you might be free of sin's
guilt. You can see an illustration of forgiveness the cross offers in the life
of Joseph who was treated so brutally and sold into slavery by his brothers.
When his brothers were before Joseph needing help for their very survival,
Joseph wasn't concerned about collecting a debt. He wasn't concerned about what
they “owed” him. He knew that they were
going to find it hard enough to forgive themselves so he said, “Don’t be afraid of me. Am I God, that I can punish you? You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good.
He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people”
(Genesis 50:19-20, NLT).
Jesus was brought to the position of
the cross so He could save your life! He has torn up your debt. You are meant
to live debt-free! Where you love because He loves you! Where you accept, because
He accepts you! Where you extend grace because He extends it to you! Where,
because you have freely received forgiveness, you freely forgive!
© 2018 Lynn Lacher
www.lynnlacher.com/2018/08/freedom-to-forgive.html
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