Be Merciful!

Then the master called the servant in. "You wicked servant,' he said, 'I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you? In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. "This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from the heart."

Matthew 18:32-35

In this passage, Jesus is engaged in a conversation with Peter. Peter has asked how many times he should forgive the person who has offended him offering the suggestion of up to 7 times. I can just see Jesus in his love and compassion tap the ground next to him as he grins a small grin that seems to say, 'Oh Peter my  boy, when will you begin to understand the ways of your Lord?' 

Jesus goes on in this passage to tell Peter a parable of a servant who was going to be sold into slavery because he could not pay back his large debt. After much begging and pleading from the debtor, the king allows him to go back to his family; the debt fully cancelled.

As the man, fully pardoned, heads for home, he sees his own servant who owes him a debt. He grabs him and chokes him, all the while demanding that his debt be paid. Though the servant begs for time to repay the debt, the man refuses and throws the servant into jail until his debt is paid. 

Word of this incident gets back to the king. The king is outraged that he cancelled a huge debt only to have the man retaliate on his own debtor. The king's response is to revoke the pardon and not just have the man imprisoned, but tortured as well until his debt is paid. 

Jesus then tells us that this is how God views our refusal to forgive others when we so willingly accept the forgiveness that He gives us. Forgiveness is a choice and a step in the healing process. It's not a one and done action. Though we've been offended and hurt by others, we must forgive them. Not because they deserve it, but because we are forgiven as well by our heavenly Father. Pray about forgiving the person who has sinned against you. In your healing process there will come a time when you must choose to forgive. When that time comes, do not withhold your forgiveness, but rather allow God to help you forgive so that in doing so, you can become more like your Father!