Read Matthew 18:32–33
“….Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?…”
Dwell:
In simple terms, it’s impossible to fully appreciate the extent of God’s forgiveness towards us and then withhold forgiveness from others. When we truly grasp the weight of our offense against God and recognize the immense cost of our salvation, we naturally overflow with forgiveness toward everyone around us.
One of the greatest errors we can make is thinking we’ve only sinned a little against God or that we’re mostly good with a little bad. Would you drink a cup of water that has one drop of botulinum toxin, the world's deadliest poison, in it? James 2:10 says, "For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it."
Our sin separated us from the original harmony between mankind and our Creator. This separation brought about both physical and spiritual death. As a result, the only way to be reconciled to God and be made alive again, both spiritually and eternally, is to pay the debt we owe due to our sin. Those who think they’ve only sinned a little might fall into the trap of believing they can work their way into harmony with God. But those who understand the gravity of their sin know that no human act can pay the debt we owe to God.
So, what do we do? We look to Christ. God the Father extends grace to us not by ignoring our sin and its consequences but by paying our debt for us. He comes to us, lives a perfect life, dies the death we deserve as a consequence of sin, and rises again, conquering death. We trust in Him. We say, "I cannot pay my own way, but I trust in the sufficiency of Jesus’ death on the cross." Because of this forgiveness, we can extend forgiveness to everyone around us.
Our debt to God is infinitely beyond our capacity to pay. Our debt to God is infinitely greater than any person’s debt to us. When we truly experience God’s forgiveness for our sins it will transform us into forgiving people. - Randy Alcorn
Lord, thank You for sending Your Son, Jesus. Thank You for Your boundless forgiveness and love. Help us to be quick to repent and turn away from our sins, always running to You for forgiveness. You are faithful and just to forgive us. May we, in turn, extend that same forgiveness to others as readily as we receive it. In Jesus' name, Amen.