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Jesus is serious about forgiveness. He gave his very life to forgive you. And … he asks you to forgive every other soul who has hurt or offended you. Yes, everyone for everything.

Now I don’t know, but maybe that’s a nearly impossible task. Forgiving them – what? They aren’t even sorry. Why should you offer them forgiveness? If for absolutely no other reason, because of this – JESUS SAYS TO. And if Jesus says to forgive, then it’s for a good purpose and you can trust him.

Jesus teaches this lesson in another parable and this story makes it very clear the torment we subject ourselves to when we withhold the very forgiveness we have received.

Matthew 18: 21-35:

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

“No, not seven times,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven!”

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. In the process, one of his debtors was brought in who owed him millions of dollars. 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.

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

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

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.

But his creditor wouldn’t wait. He had the man arrested and put in prison until the debt could be paid in full.

When some of the other servants saw this, they were very upset. They went to the king and told him everything that had happened. 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. Shouldn’t you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?’

Then the angry king sent the man to prison to be tortured until he had paid his entire debt.

That’s what my heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters from your heart.

To begin, understand the bar Jesus is setting on how many times you should forgive someone for their sins against you. By Jewish law, you should forgive 3 times. So, when Peter suggest forgiving 7 times, he’s being generous. Then Jesus comes back with a number that doesn’t even make sense – “No, not 7 times, but 70 times 7.” Here’s what that means – that means every limit you’ve had on forgiveness is blown out of the water and there’s zero use in keeping score here. You forgive over and over and over again.

This is supernatural forgiveness. This is a level of peace making within your heart that is beyond you. For this, you will need Jesus!

Remember, you are a girl who has been forgiven of much. You have no right to turn around and withhold forgiveness from someone else.

The first servant owed the King millions of dollars. This man had no possible way to repay his debt. No matter how much time the king granted, there was still no way for him to pay it back. Knowing this, the King had compassion and showed his servant mercy, forgiving his debt completely.

This man’s weight had been lifted. He walked in full forgiveness for his very large debt. But, he refused to offer that forgiveness to one of his own servants who owed him far less. When his servant begged him for more time to pay, the forgiven man refused to offer forgiveness and ordered his servant to be thrown into prison.

When the King hears of this, he says to the man, “I forgave you of your tremendous debt. Shouldn’t you have