Being Like God in Forgiveness
Monday’s Verse:
From Matthew 18:35 ESV
(Jesus said) “So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”
Jesus’ words are searching because forgiveness is costly. When someone has sinned against us, we may replay the injury, keep the account open, and wait for the other person to make things right. The servant in Jesus’ parable did exactly that. Though his master had forgiven him an unpayable debt, he seized his fellow servant by the throat over a comparatively small one.
But the heart of this parable is first the immeasurable mercy of God. Before we could repay, improve ourselves, or prove our worthiness, God acted in Christ. Jesus bore our sin in His own body on the cross. Through His death and resurrection, our debt has been canceled. In Holy Baptism, in the preached Gospel, and in the Lord’s Supper, the Lord continues to announce this freeing word: Your sins are forgiven.
That mercy changes us. We do not forgive our neighbor in order to purchase God’s forgiveness. Rather, forgiven sinners are set free to forgive. We can release the debt because Christ has released ours. This does not call evil good, deny genuine wounds, or prevent wise boundaries and proper accountability. It does mean that we refuse to make vengeance our master. We place judgment in God’s hands and ask the Holy Spirit to make our hearts more like the heart of Christ.
Today, remember the great debt the Lord has graciously forgiven you. Then ask Him for grace to extend that same mercy where resentment has taken root. God’s forgiveness does not keep score—and, in Christ, He teaches His children not to keep score either.
✝️ A Prayer for Today
Heavenly Father, You have forgiven my sin freely and fully through the blood of Your Son, Jesus Christ. Forgive me for the times I have held tightly to another person’s debt against me. I pray, in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Apostles’ Creed:
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven; give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.
Luther’s Morning Prayer:
I thank You, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have kept me this night from all harm and danger; and I pray that You would keep me this day also from sin and every evil, that all my doings and life may please You. For into Your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen.
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