STOP! It is important for you to read Matthew 18:1-35
before reading the rest of this article.
It is important for you to know for yourself what the Word of God has to
say and not just take my word for it!
“So also My heavenly Father will deal
with every one of you if you do not freely forgive your brother from your heart
his offenses.” (Verse 35 AMP)
“But
Lord, how about if my brother stole my car?”
“Forgive
him.”
“What
if my friend told others that I was a liar?”
“Forgive
him.”
“My
wife took all the rent money and spent it at the casino.”
“Forgive
her.”
“My
uncle molested me again and again.”
“Forgive
him.”
“God,
my dad beat my mother.”
“Forgive
him.”
Jesus
never said that if the sin against you is really bad then it merits
unforgiveness. If you take all 35 verses
of Matthew 18 together, you get a very clear vision of forgiveness. Verses 1-4 show us with what attitude to
forgive: child-like. Have you ever noticed confrontations between
children on the playground? When they
are resolved they do not hold grudges but move on to what they enjoy most:
play.
What
about children and those people who are new Christians (babes in the Lord)? If we hold animosity towards anyone and a
child or new Christian sees and imitate us then we cause him to stumble and sin
(verses 5-7).
Verses
8-9 tell us what to do (when we give into temptation) to keep from sinning
again. Is it harsh to cut off a hand or
pluck out an eye? Yes, but better that
then more sin. Remember, once you sin it
is easier to sin again, and then easier to sin the next time until
all-of-a-sudden you notice that you have led yourself (and anyone walking with
you) away from the Lord. There are
always people around us observing how we respond to different situations and
when we hold hatred or animosity toward someone then they (especially children
and new Christians – both not knowing better) will imitate us and fall into the
same sin we do. How important are those
children or new Christians to our Heavenly Father? Verses 12-14 are clear regarding how precious
they are to Him.
Should
you just grin-and-bear-it when someone hurts or offends you? No, Jesus is very clear regarding what you
should do: show him his fault (verse
15), if he does not listen/agree then bring one or two believers with you and
bring it up again (verse 16), if he still does not respond (“…refusing to listen and obey…” AMP)
then tell it to the Church, and if he still refuses to acknowledge his sin and
ask forgiveness then discontinue fellowshipping with him (verse 17).
Is
walking in forgiveness just a physical and emotional journey? No, it is spiritual warfare! Verses 18-20 encourage us to forbid and declare
on earth what is already forbidden and declared in heaven. They instruct us to do this together with
other believers. So if you find it hard
to forgive someone then check with the Lord.
Did He forgive the person? Of
course He did. Now it is for you to imitate
Him. Declare the person forgiven just as
Jesus has already forgiven him. There is
strength in the spiritual realm when two or more agree in Jesus’ Name so grab
another believer and pray/declare together about forgiving the offender.
So,
pulling together verses 1-20 we see there are different aspects to forgiveness,
yet there are more!
Verses
23-35 show us what forgiveness is like in Jesus’ Kingdom, concluding with how
God will deal with us if we do not forgive.
How
important is forgiveness? According to
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, the word "forgive" is
in the Bible 53 times. That's not counting forgiven, forgiving, forgiveness, or
forgave. It seems that when God says a
lot about a subject then it is VERY important!
