Never Stop Forgiving

"Then Peter came up and said to him, "Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?" Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven." Matthew 18:21-22

Peter asks Jesus the  question we are all dying to know: when can we stop forgiving? Answer: Never. Great, right?

Jesus goes on to talk about a king who wished to settle his debts with his servants. A certain servant owed the king ten thousand talents. Let's call him, Bob, for the story's sake. The king ordered that Bob, his wife, his kids, and all that he had, be sold to pay his debts. Bob begged the king to have mercy on him. The king took pity on him, and forgave his debt. He was now debt free! Immediately after,  Bob went and found another servant who owed him a hundred denarii. Let's call the second servant, Joe. Bob demanded that Joe pay his debt right then. Joe pleaded for mercy, asking for just a little more patience and time. Bob refused and had Joe thrown into jail. When the king heard about Bob's cruel behavior, he had Bob brought before him. The king said, "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?" The king then had Bob thrown into jail until he could pay his debt. Jesus ends with, "So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart." (With the exception of the names, you can find this story in Matthew 18:23-35)

The world watches us. They watch to see if we, as Christians, as followers of Christ, are really different from them. They don't just watch for our big screw-ups, but for our little grievances as well. We bicker, hold grudges, and refuse to forgive because this church believes that, or this person did that. We need to forgive. Someone disagreeing with us has never been license to shun them. A stupid comment has never been a good enough reason to not forgive.

"The Spirit and the Bride say, 'Come.' And let the one who hears say, 'Come.' And let the one who is thirsty come, let the one who desires take the water of life without price." Revelations 22:17

We have been given the water of life freely. Our debts have been forgiven. We need to learn from Bob's unforgiving attitude. We need to forgive others like we have been forgiven. We need to forgive from our hearts. We need to never stop forgiving.