SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/4/2023 10:19 AM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-14 “The
Example of Forgiveness”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matt. 18:23-35
Message of the verses: “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.’”
We conclude this very long section of the example of
forgiveness and I continue to quote from John MacArthur’s commentary.
“To forgive is not necessarily to forget. Although the truly for forgiving person will
refuse to dwell on an offense, there are sometimes continual reminders of it
that we cannot control. Nor does
forgiveness involve excusing a sinful offense.
Sin is always sin, and true love and mercy never try to make sin
anything but what it is. But forgiveness
does involve ending the bitterness, anger, and resentment that not only do not
remove a sin but rather add to it.
“Heart forgiveness is not possible for a believer in his
own power. Genuine forgiveness is not
natural but supernatural and is possible only as the indwelling Holy Spirit
empowers. Only as we ‘walk by the Spirit’
are we able not to ‘carry out the desire of the flesh,’ which, among other
things, is to hold a grudge rather than forgive. ‘For the flesh sets its desire against the
Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one
another, so that you may not do the things that you please’ (Gal 5:16-17).
“The great commentator William Arnot told the following
account to illustrate how believers are enabled to obey the command to forgive
each other. After fording a river, a
traveler in Burma discovered that His body was covered with small leaches,
busily sucking his blood. His first
impulse was to pull them off, but his servant warned him against it, explaining
that to do that would leave part of the leaches buried in the skin and cause
serious infection. The native prepared a
warm bath for the man and added certain herbs to the water that irritated but
did not kill the leaches. One by one
they voluntarily dropped off. ‘Each
unforgiven injury rankling in the heart is like a leech sucking the life-blood,’
Arnot goes on to explain. ‘Mere human
determination to have done with it will not cast the evil thing away. You must bathe your whole being in God’s
pardoning mercy; and those venomous creatures will instantly let go their hold.’”
“When someone says or does something against us that
seems unforgivable, it is helpful to offer a prayer such as this; ‘O God, put
in me the heart of forgiveness, so that I may commune with You in the fullness
of fellowship and joy and not experience the chastening that comes when You don’t
forgive me because I won’t forgive a brother or sister in Christ. May I remember that for everyone who sins
against me I have multiplied times sinned against You, and You have always
forgiven me. At no time has any of my
sin caused me to forfeit my love and my mercy toward them.”
It is my desire that anyone who has been reading these 14
SD’s on forgiveness will have learned something from them, and that it will
perhaps change a heart so that forgiveness, although it is difficult to do will
happen through the indwelling Holy Spirit.
2/4/2023 10:39 AM
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