forgiveness from the heart

So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.

Matthew 18:35

Christians are forgiven people, and because of this great grace that we know in Christ, we are called to be forgiving people. There is no place in our hearts for grudges, spite, or hate.

Jesus told a story to illustrate it. A king had administrators with whom accounts needed to be settled. One of them mismanaged wealth so poorly that he owed more than he could ever pay back. The audit had found his lies and deception and cheating. When he faced the justice of debtor’s prison, he begged for mercy and inexplicably, because the king was a good man, he graciously forgave all the debt… 100%… cleared the record. 

Then the forgiven man went on a personal debt-collection rampage, threatening and imprisoning all who owed him even minor amounts. When word of this reached the king, he rebuked the ungrateful manager and threw him into prison, not just for his debt, but for his petty ungratefulness. He misrepresented the king’s wealth AND he misrepresented the king’s grace.

And this is why Christians seek to be reconcilers and to forgive others well. We want to represent the grace of our King! When we realize the enormity of the guilt Jesus forgave us by paying for it with HIS LIFE, we can forgive those who ask of us. And remember that Jesus is speaking the truth to us… if we choose to be unforgiving people, God will discipline us, perhaps quite severely. The earthly trespasses done against us are so minor, mere bumps and dings compared to the way we have sinned and been forgiven by God. Grace thus liberates us to liberate others with forgiveness from the heart. And it helps us to be people, who by forgiving, represent the grace of our King!