Matthew 18: 23-35
“Therefore is the Kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, who would make a reckoning with his servants. And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, that owed him ten thousand talents. But for as much as he had not wherewith to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife and children, and all that he had, and payments to be made. The servant therefore fell down and worshipped him saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. And the Lord of that servant, being moved with compassion, released him and forgave him the debt.
But that servant went out, and found one of his fellow-servants who owed him 100 shillings: and he laid hold on him, and took him by the throat, saying, pay what though owes. So his fellow-servant fell down and besought him saying, have patience with me and I will pay thee. And he would not: but he went and cast him into prison, till he should pay that which was due. So when his fellow-servants saw what he had done, they were exceeding sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done.
Then his lord called unto him, and saith to him, though wickedest servant, I forgave thee all that debt because though besoughtest me: shouldest not though also have mercy on thee? And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due. So shall also my heavenly Father do unto you, if ye forgive not every one his brother from your hearts.”
This servant was completely blinded by the fact that as he had been forgiven so should he have forgiven his fellow-servant.
The bible clearly states that we must not hold unforgiveness in our heart towards any man. At times we may feel justified to hold onto unforgiveness when we are deeply wronged by others. Some unforgiveness may trail back decades to events which took place in our childhood or teenage years. Little by little this unforgiveness eats at us bringing feelings of resentment and bitterness. Our heart can grow cold resulting in us being insensitive to The Holy Spirit.
Whilst our flesh will lean towards massaging our feelings of unforgiveness, we must not yield to it. We can make up our minds to forgive even when we do not feel to. On a daily basis we can verbally declare that we will forgive the person(s). In time we will begin to mean it from the depths of our heart. Our heart will soften and become more susceptible to the things of God.
I recall holding onto unforgiveness towards my father for years as for the most part, he was absent from my life for the first 17 years. Whenever we met I brought up the past - it meant we were unable to move forward. Years passed and my heart softened, slowly I began to forgive him, I was able to laugh and joke with him accepting he made bad decisions in his life. Sadly, he passed away suddenly 11 years ago. If I had not forgiven him, I would not have any good memories, some of which I will share with my children.
So today, will you choose to forgive as our Lord commands?