The Weight of What We Owe
Reading: Matthew 18:21-35, where Jesus tells the parable of the unforgiving servant, illustrating the vast difference between what we have been forgiven and what we are sometimes unwilling to forgive others.
Devotional: Jesus presented Simon with a simple question: which debtor will love the creditor more -- the one forgiven a little or the one forgiven much? Simon answered correctly. But understanding a principle and living it are entirely different things. The danger Simon faced, and the danger we face, is knowing the right answer in our minds while our hearts remain unmoved. We are all debtors who could not pay what we owed. The ground at the foot of the cross is level. No one arrives there with more standing than another. Gratitude for grace received is the only antidote to withholding grace from others.
Reflection Questions:
Devotional: Jesus presented Simon with a simple question: which debtor will love the creditor more -- the one forgiven a little or the one forgiven much? Simon answered correctly. But understanding a principle and living it are entirely different things. The danger Simon faced, and the danger we face, is knowing the right answer in our minds while our hearts remain unmoved. We are all debtors who could not pay what we owed. The ground at the foot of the cross is level. No one arrives there with more standing than another. Gratitude for grace received is the only antidote to withholding grace from others.
Reflection Questions:
- Do you live with a daily awareness of how much you have been forgiven?
- Is there someone you are currently holding to a standard of debt you yourself could not meet?
- How does remembering your own need for grace change the way you treat others?
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