Forgiveness        

 Matthew 18: 21-35 v 27” Then his master was filled with pity for him, and he released him and forgave his dept.”

Words that stood out

Then Peter came to him and asked, “How often should I forgive someone?” “No, not seven times,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven!” The kingdom of heaven can be compared to a King who decided to bring his accounts up to date with his servants who had borrowed money from him. In the process one of his debtors was brought in who owed him millions of dollars. But the man fell down before his master and begged him.” Then his master was filled with pity for him, and he released him and forgave his dept. When the man left the king he went to a fellow servant who owed him a few thousand dollar. His fellow servant fell down before him. He had the man arrested and put in prison until the debt became paid in full. Then the king called in the man he had forgiven. Should.t you have mercy on your fellow servant? Then the king sent the man to prison to be tortured until he paid his dept. “That’s what my heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters from the heart.”

Reflection

The message in this parable from Jesus is simple. God wants us to forgive each other. Research has been done to back up the fact that forgiveness dose not relate to the amount of perceived hurt, i.e. the greater the offence the harder it is to forgive but more to the heart of the person who must forgive, which again we see in Jesus’s story about the servants with different amounts of debt. We also see immediate response and action both in the positive and negative responses in this simple story. When you are hurt , look to your heart and Jesus to help.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, we thank you for the wisdom of Jesus’s teaching recorded in the bible that we can use today. Open our hearts to forgiveness as we move forward in our journey with you. Amen.