That's Tough Teaching! A Lesson on Forgiveness

Towards the end of Colossians 3, the Apostle Paul details the character of a new man or woman in Christ. “Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering, bearing with one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.” (Colossians 3:12-13)

As God’s people, first and foremost, we are holy and beloved. Holy as in set apart from the world and for the Lord. We are set apart from sin and destruction and reserved for God and His Kingdom. We are beloved, as in we are God’s precious jewels– the apple of His eye. Knowing who we are to God and that we are viewed as a distinct group of people on the earth is important. It’s a reminder that we are valuable and serve a higher purpose in this world because we are a part of a kingdom that transcends this world.

Knowing that we are holy and beloved should not make us think of ourselves more highly than we ought, yet, knowing who we are should cause us to be steadfast and sure of our identity. We are loved and chosen by the most supreme being in all creation. If you are in Christ, you simply cannot attain a higher or better identity than the one you already have.

As God’s holy and beloved people, we are to be gracious towards others and ourselves. We are to be kind and showcase humility instead of being harsh and prideful. We are to be gentle and patient. But one of the most challenging things we are called to be is forgiving.

Yet, if we were to view things from God’s point of view, it shouldn’t be too strenuous of a thing for any of us to forgive. In Matthew 18, Jesus gives us a sobering reality about forgiveness. He tells us a parable of the unforgiving servant. There was a servant who owed their master 10,000 bags of gold (talents) but the servant had no way to pay the debt. Based on my research, this meant the servant owed the master millions.

So, the master planned to sell the servant, the servant’s wife, and the servant’s children for the money owed. But the servant begged the master for mercy, “Master, have patience with me …” (Matthew 18:26). And the master agreed. The master had patience with the servant and forgave him of his debt out of compassion and mercy.

But that same servant ran into a fellow servant who owed him 100 silver coins, which appears to be a couple thousand dollars. The man aggressively grabbed the other servant by the throat and demanded his money. The servant pleaded with the man– asked him to have patience with him because he did not have the money to pay him. Yet, the angry servant would not forgive the pleading servant and had him thrown into prison.

When the master discovered that the same servant who was forgiven of millions of dollars refused to forgive someone else for a lesser amount, he said to him, “You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?” (Matthew 18:32-33). Then scripture tells us the unforgiving servant was delivered to “the jailers to be tortured”.

Jesus ends the parable by giving us all a solemn warning: “That is how My heavenly Father will treat each of you, unless you forgive your brother from your heart” (Matthew 18:35).

Eegghhh! That's tough teaching.

Jesus called the unforgiving servant wicked. The punishment for his unforgiveness is very easy to interpret. Because of his failure to forgive, he was cast away into prison. For us, if we fail to forgive, our heavenly Father will cast us away as well.

A million dollar debt is excessively more expensive than a thousand dollars debt. In context, Christ is letting us know that the debt that we owed God for our sins is significantly higher than any sin that someone else committed against us. And if God can forgive us of our excessively high debt, we should be able to forgive others for their debt. What they owe us is astronomically lower than what we owed God.

If we choose not to forgive, we are deemed wicked by God. If we cannot forgive others, then God will not forgive us (Matthew 6:18). The severity and the importance of forgiveness is clearly communicated in God’s Word. I cannot express the significance of it anymore than what Jesus already did.

But I can pray for you. So, let us pray:

“Father God, we see what Your Word says about forgiveness. We understand how serious forgiving others is to You. Lord, if our hearts are hardened in unforgiveness, help us to release it and to forgive. If You currently view us as wicked servants because of our unforgiveness, please have mercy on us!

Guide us in fully forgiving those who have wronged us. Let nothing keep us from You Lord. Remove any unyielding thoughts and emotions we have bottled within our minds, hearts, and bodies. Aid us in releasing others of their debt, just as You have released us of ours through Your Son. Thank you for this opportunity to pray to You.

We know that You hear our prayers and that forgiveness is according to Your Will. And we also know that per 1 John 5:15, we have the petitions we have asked of You. So, Father, thank You for hearing and answering our prayer. Thank You that You will aid us, free us, and that we will forgive.

We love You and we thank You! It is in Your Son’s Jesus name that we pray. Amen.”

That's it, reader! May God bless you and keep you. Until next time, take care.

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Sincerely,

Quin Arrington