40 Day Daniel Fast Day 32

Colossians 3:13   bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.

Hey, can I tell you a story? There was a King who wished to settle his accounts with all of the people who owed him money. When he began to settle the debts, one guy was brought to him who owed him a nice amount of change; once the King realized he could not pay, he ordered him to be placed in jail until he came up with the money. What happened next was a man who didn't care who saw him or watched what took place (he didn't care who heard him); out of desperation, he begged the King to have mercy on him and told him he would pay. The King understood he would never be able to come up with the money and therefore released him from the debt. Shortly after this interaction, the man who was just released from his obligation ran into someone who owed him 10 dollars. He asked for the money and realized he'd fallen on the exact hard times. Now what happens next is the shocker; instead of paying it forward and letting this man off, he demands the money and places him in jail for refusing to pay! Really? Couldn't you let that go? Now before you judge this guy's story in Matthew 18, let me ask you a question, how was your last complaint handled? How was your previous interaction with the person you didn't see eye to eye with?

Notice Paul says we have to be people who make allowance for each other's faults; we have to be people who forgive. Now, before you say, "I don't know if I can forgive, you don't know what they've done to me. You don't know what happened in that situation." Can I remind you that part of the premise of forgiveness is to remind you how much the Lord has forgiven you and to help you realize how presumptuous it is of you to refuse to forgive? God has provided us with the cure for forgiveness; that's Jesus dying for our sin. Now we have to apply that truth! Try this on for size; because Christ has forgiven us for much, we can forgive our brothers and sisters for far less. Start the forgiveness process.

Challenge
Is there someone you haven’t forgiven? Pray now for that person, now release that person of their debt!