Forgiving As We Are Forgiven, Pt. 2 — A ‘Time With God’ Devotion

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Transcript

Good morning. All this week we’re talking about the theme of forgiveness. We need forgiveness from God, don’t we? But we also need to learn to forgive people in our lives, and we need to learn to accept forgiveness from others in our lives. Well, yesterday we saw that forgiveness is not about what the forgiven person deserves. They don’t deserve forgiveness. It’s about what’s in the heart of the forgiver. It’s an undeserved gift. It’s an expression of love, and you can love people that you don’t in the moment like.

Forgiveness, it comes from God to us, not because we deserve it at all. It’s just grace, isn’t it? And it’s the same when we forgive others. And today I want to look at this lesson.

Forgiving each other just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.

That we need to forgive because we have been forgiven. Listen to what the apostle Paul writes in the Book of Ephesians in the Bible in chapter 4 starting in verse 30. He says:

Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. That all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.

Well, when someone wrongs you and all your feelings surge, be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving each other.

Put aside bitterness, wrath, anger, clamour, slander, malice. Set them all aside. Why? Because God in Christ has forgiven you.

Let me read you an encounter between Jesus and Peter, his follower, in Matthew chapter 18. It says, then Peter came up to Jesus and said to him, Lord, how often will my brother sin against me and I forgive him? As many as 7 times? Jesus said to him, I do not say to you 7 times, but 70 times 7.

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Therefore, the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him 10,000 talents. Well, that’s millions of dollars in our day.

And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold with his wife and children and all that he had and payment to be made. So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, have patience with me. I will pay you everything. Of course he could never pay back that amount.

Jesus goes on out of pity for him. The master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him 100 dinara, a much smaller amount, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, pay what you owe.

So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘have patience with me‘. I will pay you. He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. Then his master summoned him and said to him, You wicked servant, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. Should you not have had mercy on your fellow servant as I had mercy on you?

Well, when you think about your relationship with God and you know in your heart how you’ve offended God before you became a Christian and since you’ve become a Christian, how many times you’ve turned your back on Him, offended Him, ignored Him, done what you knew He didn’t want in your life, and yet He comes to you wanting to forgive, wanting to restore.

How can you apply that to your relationships with the people in your life today?

I’m John North.

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