“After he went out, that same slave found one of his fellow slaves who owed him one hundred silver coins. So he grabbed him by the throat and started to choke him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ Then his fellow slave threw himself down and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will repay you.’ But he refused. Instead, he went out and threw him in prison until he repaid the debt. When his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were very upset and went and told their lord everything that had taken place. Then his lord called the first slave and said to him, ‘Evil slave! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me! Should you not have shown mercy to your fellow slave, just as I showed it to you?’ And in anger his lord turned him over to the prison guards to torture him until he repaid all he owed. So also my heavenly Father will do to you, if each of you does not forgive your brother from your heart.” (Matthew 18:28-35 — New English Translation)
The last half of this parable explains about how the slave who had been forgiven a sum of sixty million day’s wages would not forgive a fellow slave the sum of one hundred day’s wages. What was he thinking? What he had begged the king to do for him, he would not do for the second slave, and so the king revoked his forgiveness and made the slave pay him back in full… turning him over to the guards to “torture” him.
In light of this, our excuses of forgiveness being hard, or painful, or unfair, become irrelevant. It doesn’t matter how much people have hurt us, God commands us to forgive… and so we have to. It is a small thing for us to forgive others, no matter what they’ve done, if that forgiveness ensures our own salvation and forgiveness.
If this is hard for you, you just need to accept God’s advice and act on it. Stop trying to figure it out, and stop waiting for the proper feelings. Just go ahead and forgive. Jesus doesn’t mention feelings in this passage because true forgiveness is about action, not feelings. We have to forgive, and remind ourselves that we have forgiven, and continue to rebuke any bad thoughts that crop up, and eventually our feelings will line up with our decision to forgive. At times it can be a long process before our feelings cooperate.
Forgiveness is a way of worshipping God. You can sing a million praise and worship songs, and say “Hallelujah” ten thousand times, but if there is unforgiveness in your heart, all those things are meaningless, irritating noises to God. If we hold on to unforgiveness we are lost and on our way to hell because Jesus’ death on the cross no longer has the power to forgive our sins. His sacrifice has the power to save, but we negate His sacrifice when we stubbornly, rebelliously insist on doing things our way.
Scientific studies have shown that contempt for others, a component in unforgiveness, makes people ninety-three percent more prone to infectious disease. This is simply a sign of what is happening spiritually. — If we show mercy, we will be shown mercy. If we are unmerciful, we will be shown no mercy. It’s up to us.
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