“Then Peter came to Him and said, ‘Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.’”
Matthew 18:21-22

In Matthew 18, not only did our Lord give us a pattern for dealing with those who have wronged us, but He also set before us a pattern of forgiveness. Peter asked a question that perhaps many of us have wondered about: How often should I forgive someone who has sinned against me? Peter thought seven times would be enough patience to show toward the offender. But the Lord answers, not seven times, but seventy times seven. When Peter heard 490, he must have thought, “Who could keep count of that many offenses?” But that is the point! By the time you have forgiven a person that many times, you are in the habit of forgiving!

To illustrate His point, our Lord tells a parable about a servant who owed a great debt to a king. He could not pay his debt, and the king was going to have him, his family, and all that he had sold in order to pay it. The man begged the king to have patience with him and promised to pay his debt. The king showed compassion and even forgave him his debt. But this servant then went out and seized someone who owed him a very small amount by comparison. When the king heard what this man had done, he had him delivered to the torturers.

This parable is not about salvation but about forgiving one another! It reminds each of us that we have been forgiven a debt we could never pay and that we should be willing to forgive the debts of others. We had sinned against a holy and righteous God, but He demonstrated His own love toward us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us! We ought to forgive one another.

Another lesson to draw from this parable is that the unforgiving servant was delivered to the torturers. The worst kind of prison is an unforgiving heart! When we refuse to forgive, we imprison ourselves and cause ourselves needless torment. Unforgiving people can become some of the most miserable and unhappy people. But those who learn to forgive, even as we have been forgiven, are liberated people, filled with joy and peace because they have become imitators of God: “And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. Therefore be imitators of God as dear children” (Eph. 4:32-5:1).

Anchor For Today:
Those who learn to forgive are liberated people, filled with joy and peace because they have become imitators of God.