Matthew 18:21-Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?”
22-Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.
23-“Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants.
24-“And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents.
25-“But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made.
26-“The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, ‘Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’
27-“Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt.
28-“But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, ‘Pay me what you owe!’
29-“So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’
30-“And he would not, but went and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt.
31-“So when his fellow servants saw what had been done, they were very grieved, and came and told their master all that had been done.
32-“Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me.
33-‘Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?’
34-“And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him.
35-“So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.”
Everyone, I suspect, is in favor of forgiveness, at least in principle.
“Every one,” C.S. Lewis writes, “says forgiveness is a lovely idea, until there is something to forgive”
What is Jesus trying to tell us!
Don't limit Forgiveness!
Don't limit Grace!
Don't limit Mercy!
Maybe I'm the only one that messes up everyday!
Thinks the wrong thought every day!
Does the wrong thing everyday!
Says the wrong thing everyday!
What if God decided----”I'm only going to forgive him or forgive her this many times!”
We wouldn't want that, we don't ever want God to give up on us, we don't ever want God to not forgive us, not to show mercy to us, not to show Grace, then why in the world, are we so willing not to do that for others?
You say, "Well you just don't know what they've done to me!"
The truth is every sin that you and I commit, everything that we do that is wrong, affects our relationship with God!
It hurts God, it puts a division between yourself and God and what we have done and what we continue to do and probably what we'll do until we leave this old earth is sin and because of it, we need to ask for forgiveness!
We need to ask to be delivered!
We need to ask for Grace!
We need to ask for mercy and Grace in our lives!
What people have done to you and me cannot compare to what you and I have done to God!
Asking for forgiveness it's not so much about letting God know about our sin!
Because He already knows!
Confession is necessary because it is a chance for us to realize our sinfulness!
Our unholiness, our disobedience because we have to admit that we need or did something that needed forgiveness!
The idea here is that us knowing that we need forgiveness and how much forgiveness we need that we would be more likely to give forgiveness to others it would help us to identify more with those who trespass against us since we have trespassed against God
"I'm not going to forgive them until they apologize to me!"
"They owe me an apology!"
You should forgive them because you've been forgiven!
You should release them of the debt you think they owed to you because of a debt you owe to God and because you have been forgiven!
Since it says, And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him.
We are tortured that's what happens when are you and I don't forgive.
That's why when the person who has done something bad to us, when we hear their name are stomach begins to tumble.
When we see them we relive the incident that happened between us and it goes on and on for years and years until we forgive them, until we release them……..Which interns releases us!
Not saying that you're going to forget it, not saying that you're not having feelings of hurt or remember the betrayal of the ones who hurt us, but until we forgive or willing to forgive those feelings, those hurts are going to linger!
Most are the ones who hurt us are the ones close to us.
That's why Peter said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?”
(My Brother) The ones who hurt us the most, are the ones closes to us…..Family, friends, coworkers, yes, even church members.
If will begin to ask God to help us forgive others, and to show mercy and Grace towards others.
Will find ourselves in the position to love those individuals once again.
We will find ourselves offering Love instead of Hate.
Grace instead of Disapproval!
Mercy instead of Unforgiveness!
Forgiveness doesn't come easy, it takes sacrifice.
It took sacrifice for God to give us life!
It took sacrifice for God to give us Mercy!
It took sacrifice on a cruel cross for you and I to receive Forgiveness!
But if we're going to have joy in our life and peace in our life we are going to have to forgive!
Not put a limit on how many times we forgive!
Forgive them and let God work it out!
Forgive them and see what Grace can do!
See how grace can change a person!
See how grace can not only change the person it's offered too but also to the person who is offering it!!
That person that needs to be changed…..Just might be you!
