SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/3/2023 2:53 PM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-13 “The Example of Forgiveness”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew
18:23-35
Bible Reading & Meditation: “23 “For this
reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a certain king who wished to
settle accounts with his slaves. 24 “And when he had begun to settle them,
there was brought to him one who owed him ten thousand talents. 25 “But since
he did not have the means to repay, his lord commanded him to be sold,
along with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment to be made.
26 “The slave therefore falling down, prostrated himself before him, saying,
‘Have patience with me, and I will repay you everything.’ 27 “And the lord of
that slave felt compassion and released him and forgave him the debt. 28 “But
that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred
denarii; and he seized him and began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay
back what you owe.’ 29 “So his fellow slave fell down and began to
entreat him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you.’ 30 “He was
unwilling however, but went and threw him in prison until he should pay back
what was owed. 31 “So when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were
deeply grieved and came and reported to their lord all that had happened. 32
“Then summoning him, his lord said to him, ‘You wicked slave, I forgave you all
that debt because you entreated me. 33 ‘Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave,
even as I had mercy on you?’ 34 “And his lord, moved with anger, handed
him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him. 35 “So
shall My heavenly Father also do to you, if each of you does not forgive his
brother from your heart.’”
I continue to quote from John MacArthur’s
commentary in this SD, and I have to say that I probably will need one more SD to
finish looking at this parable.
“Blessed are the merciful,” Jesus
said, “for they shall receive mercy” (Matt 5:7). If we want mercy and cleansing from the Lord
for our repeated sins against Him, we must be willing, from our heart, to offer
mercy to fellow Christians even for repeated offenses against us. Then we can pray with confidence, ‘Forgive us
our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors’ (Matt. 6:12).
“Genuine forgiveness that is from
your heart, is trusting forgiveness, forgiveness that sees the offending brother just as he was before he
sinned. If we truly forgive a
person, we trust him just as we trusted him before. We do not hold the offense over his head or
even in our minds, thinking that he will likely sin again.
“Although sin against God, the
church, and a fellow brother in Christ can bring long-lasting pain and
suffering, and sometimes even permanent loss of a once-cherished intimacy, the
road to full restoration can be paved with generosity and trust. For example, to entrust a forgiven person
with something that is dear and important to you is perhaps the surest evidence
that the forgiveness is genuinely from the heart. If the offense was stealing, the offender can
again be entrusted with something precious.
If the offense was shirking responsibility, he can be given other
important work to do. Even if the
offense was slander, he again can be trusted with your reputation and become a
friend who is fully loved and fully trusted.
2/3/2023
3:07 PM
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