Freedom Through Forgivenessنموونە

Forgive Like God

Yesterday, we saw that Jesus sets the standard for forgiveness. Peter thought his standard was high, but then Jesus took that standard to such a level that it seemed impossible. However, the truth is that if He said it, it’s achievable.

We need to examine our definition of forgiveness. Like Peter, we need to set our understanding of forgiveness alongside what God says it is and see if we need to make any adjustments.

Let’s look at the parable that Jesus told to define forgiveness.

"Therefore, the Kingdom of Heaven can be compared to a king who decided to bring his accounts up to date with servants who had borrowed money from him. In the process, one of his debtors was brought in who owed him millions of dollars. He couldn't pay, so his master ordered that he be sold—along with his wife, his children, and everything he owned—to pay the debt.

"But the man fell down before his master and begged him, 'Please, be patient with me, and I will pay it all.' Then his master was filled with pity for him, and he released him and forgave his debt.

"But when the man left the king, he went to a fellow servant who owed him a few thousand dollars. He grabbed him by the throat and demanded instant payment.

"His fellow servant fell down before him and begged for a little more time. 'Be patient with me, and I will pay it,' he pleaded. But his creditor wouldn't wait. He had the man arrested and put in prison until the debt could be paid in full.

"When some of the other servants saw this, they were very upset. They went to the king and told him everything that had happened. Then the king called in the man he had forgiven and said, 'You evil servant! I forgave you that tremendous debt because you pleaded with me. Shouldn't you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?' Then the angry king sent the man to prison to be tortured until he had paid his entire debt.

"That's what my heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters from your heart." - Matthew 18:23-35 NLT

The King’s Decision To Forgive (verses 23–27)

Jesus begins the parable with a servant who owed the king $245,787,321.56. (Yes, I am taking a little creative liberty here, just go with it.) When it came time to pay, the servant didn't have the money to repay it.

The king decided that the servant’s family would be sold to repay the debt. When the servant saw this, he did what any one of us would do in that situation, he begged and pleaded. If you saw your children being sold into slavery, wouldn’t you do the same thing?

This is a lot of money for anyone. Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, and Oprah would all agree that it's a lot of money. Nobody will ever FEEL like forgiving anyone of $245,787,321.56. That is unheard of.

But when the king saw how much the servant was pleading with him, he pitied him and CHANGED HIS DECISION. He CHOSE to forgive him of the debt. Here we see that he initially chose not to forgive the debt, but he later changed his mind and forgave it.

The king chose to forgive.

The Servant's Decision Not to Forgive (verses 28–30)

Now the servant who was just forgiven ran into someone who owed him money. That servant owed him $3,256 (more creative liberty). The amount that was owed to him is much less than what he had owed to the king.

You would think that since the servant was forgiven of that enormous debt, he would, at a BARE MINIMUM, give the man who owed him money more time to pay. That's the least he could do, considering he was just forgiven $245,787,321 and 56 cents!!! The servant was faced with a choice. He could choose to extend the same mercy and grace that was just extended to him, but he decided not to. He ordered that the man who owed him money receive the same penalty that he had just been spared.

Also, notice that the servant WENT to the servant to get his money. I would say that he made up his mind about what he would do before he got there.

The servant chose not to forgive.

The King Changed His Decision (verses 31–35)

Some people saw what happened. They were so bothered by it that they went to tell the king what happened. The king was so furious that he called the man back in. He asked him, "How is it that I forgave you of so much, and you chose not to forgive that man of so little? That is not how this works!"

That king, who then chose to forgive, changed his mind and decided not to forgive the servant of his debt.

Throughout this entire parable, we see that forgiveness is a decision. Emotions were present in the king and the servant, but they were not what made the difference in forgiveness. They both made a conscious decision to either forgive or not forgive.

We can clearly see that forgiveness is a deliberate decision. It also involves other aspects of your life, but as far as God is concerned, once you have decided to forgive, He will honor that.

Actions will follow the decisions that you make. God knows when you are "trying" and when you are committed to doing what He commanded you to. When a decision to forgive is made, action will follow.

Decisions that are not followed up by actions are just wishes.

"But someone will say, ‘You have faith, and I have works.’ Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works." - James 2:18 NKJV

Remember, faith works through love, and forgiveness is part of walking in love; so they both operate on the same principle. The way you show forgiveness is through your actions.

With faith, you believe in your heart first, and with forgiveness, you forgive with your heart first. You must make the heart adjustment, then proceed with the actions.

"For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also." - James 2:26 NKJV

Just as faith without works is dead, forgiveness without works is dead. Without you taking action, nothing changes on the inside of you. The reason you take the action of forgiveness is so that YOU don't stay trapped. When you move forward in forgiveness, you move forward with the rest of your life.

The very first action that you can take right now is speaking forgiveness out loud with your mouth. Your words have power! This isn't self-help mumbo jumbo; it's real.

Right now, wherever you are, say out loud,

"I forgive (insert name). Yes, they have caused wounds in my life, but I have decided today to forgive them and let them go in my heart. They no longer owe me anything, and I no longer expect anything from them. I choose right now to forgive them, and I will treat them as such."

If you did that, you have begun a whole new life. You may even feel a sense of relief. You may also feel like that was the hardest thing to say in your life. Wherever you are, if you have decided in your heart to forgive and have taken the first step of speaking it out loud, you are on your way.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. – John 3:16

The action you just took is how God works. God loved us so much (decision) that He gave His only begotten son (action)

When you forgive like God, you are also loving like God.