Time To Forgive

The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant

Matthew 18:21-35

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.”

Have you been hurt by someone and thought I’ll never forgive the hurt that they inflicted onto me in this present time? Well it is time to forgive. Not having forgiveness towards someone only hurts you even the more while this person is living their life. You’re causing turmoil in your life because you have no forgiveness towards others because in the bible verse Matthew 18:35 quoted above is basically saying if you do not forgive God cannot give you forgiveness. That makes sense right? If God can forgive all of our sins and ways that do not line up with His word why cannot we forgive the next that hurt our feelings.

I can say that so many people have done me wrong and I’m the type that would hold onto this pain and thinking I’m hurting them going against them when in all reality I was really doing myself damage. At the end of the day my unforgiving ways was not pleasing to God especially since I was trying to ask Him for forgiveness probably that same day (what kind of mess is that) and also I was left still feeling hurt while not forgiving. When I finally gave this hurt to God and released to this person that I forgave them whether they knew what I was talking about or didn’t care I was set free from the pain that was hovering over my head.

Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Hebrews 10:22 

Also not only do you need to forgive others, but you also need to forgive yourself so that you may draw nearer to God. What do you mean forgive myself? Well if you sit and think on your past with how you sleep with this guy, lied, cheated, stole something and get upset with the fact that you let yourself do anything like that or that you’re still ashamed of your past sins it is time to forgive yourself. In 2 Corinthians 5:17 it says, "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." This means once you made that decision to turn away from your old ways you have become cleansed and God has separated you from your past. So since God has forgiven you and He does not even care about it anymore why should you dwell on it and let the enemy attack your mind in this way. It’s time to renew your mind take back control and forgive yourself.

For me during my not forgiving myself phase it lead to so much turmoil in my life. It started with an attack in my mind that even brings back to remembrance the things that I have done in my past. It was then that I would dwell on them and that opens doors for anything to come to mind. When I would dwell on these things I would think maybe I’m not good enough to do what God has called me to do, and what if people think I am weird which lead to me getting myself in a space where I wanted to isolate myself because of things that I went through and encountered. Things like this will create harm to you because even now it is still hard for me not to isolate and interact with people because I did separate so much when I was in that stage of my life, but God is surely bringing me out of that stage. I have forgiven myself and now that I have it is like God is pushing me to another place. Once you forgive yourself God will open new doors because he will know that you are ready to receive because He will know you are not dwelling on the past, so that means you will be able to focus on the future and the call that He has placed on your life.

Forgive and Forget. God did it for you! It will free you!

I Love You All, But Remember God Loves You MOST!