Forgiven Much

"He, who is forgiven the greatest, loves the most."
(Luke 7:41-43)

I've always been intrigued by the story of the unforgiving servant in Matthew 18. Think about it; here's a man who owed his master a huge amount of money, more than he probably could have ever paid off. Pleading for mercy, he went to his master and was granted forgiveness of the debt that he owed. Afterwards, instead of humbly living a life that was filled with an attitude of gratitude that extended to others, he went and found someone who owed him relatively little compared with what he'd been forgiven of and treated his friend harshly. Unbelievable! Or is it?

As I write this, I'm aware of the depth of gratitude I owe because of the sins that God has forgiven me for. My debt is huge, but by His grace, love and mercy, Ive been forgiven. Hallelujah! However, at times even after God had "forgiven my sin and cleansed me from all righteousness" and had "cast my sin as far as the east is from the west" and "remembered my sin no more", I still had trouble forgiving. In light of my being forgiven greatly, I should always forgive freely. Anyone who has any idea of the magnitude of their sin against God, after having been forgiven should by the power of the Spirit be among the greatest forgivers.

Well, you may say, "I don't have trouble forgiving others, I just cant forgive myself!" My friend, no where in scripture does it say that you must forgive yourself. Many people are weighed down by the guilt and inability to forgive themselves, when in reality it is Gods forgiveness that we should truly seek. Jesus paid the debt for our every sin and in reality every offense is ultimately against Him. When He forgives and cleanses from all unrighteousness He can pave the way for our own healing and as we live under His grace move us towards reconciliation in other relationships that seemed impossible to mend.

Many times we seek forgiveness from others so that our circumstance might change and we'll feel better. Seeking forgiveness from God paves the way for the changes to occur in us first and then by Gods grace our circumstances will follow through a journey of repentance, reconciliation and restoration, all of which begin with God first.

The next time you find it hard to forgive go back and read about the cross of Christ (Isaiah 53:5) and realize it was for you that died. Realizing that should help us in our decisions to forgive our offenders.