Hey Clawson Family!

Song:

Scripture:

Matthew 7:2 New Living Translation

2 For you will be treated as you treat others.[a] The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged.[b]

Matthew 18: 21-34

Parable of the Unforgiving Debtor

21 Then Peter came to him and asked, “Lord, how often should I forgive someone[i] who sins against me? Seven times?”

22 “No, not seven times,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven![j]

23 “Therefore, the Kingdom of Heaven can be compared to a king who decided to bring his accounts up to date with servants who had borrowed money from him. 24 In the process, one of his debtors was brought in who owed him millions of dollars.[k] 25 He couldn’t pay, so his master ordered that he be sold—along with his wife, his children, and everything he owned—to pay the debt.

26 “But the man fell down before his master and begged him, ‘Please, be patient with me, and I will pay it all.’ 27 Then his master was filled with pity for him, and he released him and forgave his debt.

28 “But when the man left the king, he went to a fellow servant who owed him a few thousand dollars.[l] He grabbed him by the throat and demanded instant payment.

29 “His fellow servant fell down before him and begged for a little more time. ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it,’ he pleaded. 30 But his creditor wouldn’t wait. He had the man arrested and put in prison until the debt could be paid in full.

31 “When some of the other servants saw this, they were very upset. They went to the king and told him everything that had happened. 32 Then the king called in the man he had forgiven and said, ‘You evil servant! I forgave you that tremendous debt because you pleaded with me. 33 Shouldn’t you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?’ 34 Then the angry king sent the man to prison to be tortured until he had paid his entire debt.

Devotional:

 If you are keeping score against someone else, God is keeping score against you. That is a really bold and offensive statement, but we see this in Jesus’s teachings. In Matthew 18 the story of the unforgiving servant. The king forgives, the servant does not, and the king withdraws his mercy and forgiveness.

If we are using a score card standard to judge others then God is using the same standard against us. We can’t pencil whip God. He is the one with the pencil, and he knows the actual score.

God sent His Son, Jesus, to die as the final sacrifice for the forgiveness of our sins. His sacrifice was enough to cover our sins: past, present and future. He threw away the scorecard and erased any mark against us. But we are called to be givers of that forgiving grace.

Paul says  in Colossians 3:13: “Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”

“As the Lord forgave you.” Let’s allow that to sink in for just a moment. When I remember how God has fully forgiven me for everything I’ve ever done to wrong Him, that makes it easier to forgive those people who’ve hurt me. God’s forgiveness of me drives me to forgive others.

In teaching His followers to forgive, Jesus didn’t give exceptions — no loopholes that let us off the hook from forgiving. He mentioned no crime too heinous, no abuse too perverse, no act too vile, to warrant holding on to unforgiveness. We can trust that Jesus knows just how deeply people may have hurt us. But He also knows how deeply destructive unforgiveness can be to our lives and hearts.

When we choose to forgive, we put a stop to the endless cycle of revenge — releasing the burden of bitterness.

Journal:

In one sentence, summarize what you think Jesus was teaching in the parable of the unforgiving servant. In light of this, what do you think Paul meant by “forgive as the Lord forgave you” 

Training:

Father, I’ll admit I’ve kept a scorecard of those around me. Help me to set down the pencil and to forgive others quickly and completely. Help me not to trip over my own sin of unforgiveness but to walk the path without stumbling. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

We don’t have to hold on to bitter memories and let painful

moments steal your joy and weigh us down. Today choose joy!!