Passage Read: Matthew 17-18
Meditation Verses: 18:32-35
Thought
The Lord is willing and able to restore a debt He has forgiven. This is a warning to me and every other believer, that we forgive from the heart our fellow man or woman, especially those who plead with us for forgiveness, just as we have pleaded with God for forgiveness and received it from Him. If we do not, He is able to restore to us our debt of sin and hand us over to the tormentors until we pay it back, which, if that means Hell, we will never finish. But in the same way, He is able to restore to one we have forgiven their debt of sin if they have not truly repented.
Application
So I need to be afraid of not forgiving someone from the heart, and I don't need to be afraid of forgiving someone from the heart who wasn't serious about repenting. I need to forgive anyone and everyone who asks for it, which means I need to make sure to show each one their fault, so that they know they need to seek forgiveness, or else how can they ask for mercy? But I don't want to say anything, because I'm afraid either they won't agree they have sinned or worse, they'll ask forgiveness but not mean it. They won't correct their behavior, but I'll be forced to forgive them from the heart. They'll get away with sin and I'll have no recourse. But if God can restore my debt of sin, so can He restore another's debt. I may have forgiven them, but if they have no interest in changing their ways, the Lord will either hold new sins against them or restore their whole debt. That kind of justification is not something to be grateful for. Rather it should drive me to fear for that person and plead all the more with them that they repent in truth!