SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/18/2023 11:37 AM
My Worship Time: Focus: PT-2 Intro to “Learning to Forgive”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew
18:21-35
Message of the verses: “21 Then Peter came
up and said to him, "Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I
forgive him? As many as seven times?" 22 Jesus said to him, "I do not
say to you seven times, but seventy times seven. 23 “Therefore the kingdom of
heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his
servants. 24 When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten
thousand talents. 25 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.
26 So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and
I will pay you everything.’ 27 And out of pity for him, the master of that
servant released him and forgave him the debt. 28 But when that same servant
went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii,
and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’ 29 So his
fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I
will pay you.’ 30 He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay
the debt. 31 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. 32 Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked
servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 33 And should
not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ 34 And
in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his
debt. 35 So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not
forgive your brother from your heart.’”
We continue today looking at this very important subject “Learning
to Forgive.” I think for most people it
is not difficult to forgive children, and most people, especially their parents
do it almost instinctively. As parents
we understand that children are uninformed, inexperienced, and immature. Now because of the fall of man seen in
Genesis chapter three we know that all people when they are born are sinners,
and so as believers in Jesus Christ we realize that we do not have to teach our
children to do wrong things for that is in all of our nature, and so many times
we tolerate those things and forgive them when our children do wrong
things. Even when our children hurt us
deeply we will forgive them. It is hard
to hold a grudge against a child.
MacArthur writes “That analogy also should be true in a spiritual sense,
because all believers are children, as Jesus repeatedly points out in Matthew
18.”
One
of the things that I look forward doing is to listen to the Bible each day,
especially in January as my wife and I begin at the book of Genesis and listen
to three chapters of the Bible for three days and then every fourth day we
listen to four chapters. There are 1189
chapters in the Bible and this method will get us through the entire Bible in a
year with seven chapters to be read on the last day of the year. Now back to why I like listening to Genesis,
and that has to do with the story of Joseph, as the story of Joseph has may
parallels with our Lord Jesus Christ.
One of the things that parallels is the forgiveness that Joseph had for
his brothers after they had wronged him.
From the beginning of Joseph’s story we see that he was special as God
gave him dreams which foretold things that would happen to Jacob’s family, and
in chapter 39 the story of Joseph is told of what happened to Joseph after his
brothers sold him as a slave. This story
goes all the way to chapter fifty where all of Jacob’s family was now in Egypt
where Joseph was the second in command of that mighty nation. His brothers who actually tried to kill him,
but then sold him as a slave were afraid that Joseph would do harm to them
after their father died. At the end of
Genesis we read in Genesis 50:18-21 these words: “18 Then his
brothers also came and fell down before him and said, "Behold, we are your
servants." 19 But Joseph said to them, "Do not be afraid, for am I in God’s place? 20
“As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in
order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive. 21 “So
therefore, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones."
So he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.”
(Remember Romans 8:28)
We
also see forgiveness in the story of David, especially when he had the chance
on more than one occasion to kill King Saul who was trying to kill him, but
David would not kill the Lord’s Anointed.
I
will quote one paragraph from John MacArthur’s commentary and then Lord willing;
we will finish this introduction in our next SD.
“Forgiveness reflects the
highest human virtue, because it so clearly reflects the character of God. A person who forgives is a person who
emulates godly character. Nothing so much
demonstrates God’s love as His forgiveness.
A person who does not forgive is therefore a person lacking in godly
character and without Christ-like love, no matter how orthodox his theology or
how outwardly impeccable his morals appear to be. A Christian who will not relinquish a
hateful, resentful attitude toward someone who has wronged him is a person who
knows neither the true glory of his redeemed humanity nor the true glory of God’s
gracious divinity. An unforgiving
Christian is a living contradiction of his new nature in Christ. It is central to the heart of God to forgive,
and only the Christian who radiates forgiveness radiates true godliness.”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: Forgiving is at times hard to do because of
the old nature, but as I look at the forgiveness that God has given to me it is
my desire to forgive those who do harm to me.
My Steps of Faith for Today: I trust the Lord for grace to be more like
Him and forgive those who do harm to me.
1/18/2023
12:17 PM
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