This mindset of the spiritually minded Christian is a humble mind that acknowledges that they have sinned much and have been forgiven much. They know the grace and mercy of God and can show it to others. If someone is too angry to show mercy, then the Spirit has more work to do on that person’s heart. Still, there’s another way to see this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
The biblical basis for forgiving the sins of others against ourselves comes from a story Jesus gave when Peter asked Jesus, \u201cLord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” (Matt. 18:21). Jesus answered him surprisingly, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven” (v. 22). When the Spirit conforms you into the image of Christ (Rom. 8:29), you will have the humble attitude of simply forgiving someone’s slights and leaving it all to God in love. This is a mature love. The immature believer will seethe inside and justify himself. (Been there, done that!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But Jesus goes on with His teaching in Matt. 18:23-35. It is the story of a king who was ready to sell a servant who was in great debt to the king. The servant pleaded with the king and the king forgave all. But the servant refused to forgive another servant, and that was reported to the king. The king said, “You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?” Then the king threw him to the torturers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What was Jesus’ lesson on forgiveness? “So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses” (Matt. 18:35). If someone does not see how broad and wide is God’s mercy to sinners and himself, then he can’t show God’s mercy to others. Keeping anger without forgiveness reflects a heart that doesn’t know God very well. That person knows religion, like the Pharisees did, and not a relationship with God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jesus doesn’t stop there. Jesus the Master said, “Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you, saying, “I repent,’ you shall forgive him’ ” (Luke 17:3-4).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jesus supplements this teaching with the next few verses. He shows the rightness of the master to command his servants to drop what they are doing and fix his meal when he comes home. The master does not thank the servant after all that work. The servant does not look for thanks, but says, “We are unprofitable servants. We have don what was our duty to do” (Luke 17:10). We may be too busy to forgive. Too sensitive or hurt or angry to forgive. What is a faithful servant going to do? Obey the Master.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This mindset of the spiritually minded Christian is a humble mind that acknowledges that they have sinned much and have been forgiven much. They know the grace and mercy of God and can show it to others. If someone is … Continue reading