CAPACITY TO FORGIVE IS DEPENDENT ON OUR CAPACITY AND WILLINGNESS TO BE GRATEFUL

CAPACITY TO FORGIVE IS DEPENDENT ON OUR CAPACITY AND WILLINGNESS TO BE GRATEFUL
Ang marunong magpasalamat ay marunong humingi ng tawad at ang marunong humingi ng tawad ay marunong ding magpatawad. Ang hindi nagpapasalamat, hindi humihingi ng tawad at hindi rin nagpapatawad.
“Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.”

Mat. 18
15 "And if your brother sins, go and reprove him in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. 16 "But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed. 17 "And if he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax-gatherer.

18 "Truly I say to you, whatever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven 19 "Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven.

20 "For where two or three have gathered together in My name, there I am in their midst." 21 Then Peter came and said to Him, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?" 22 Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven. NASB

23 "For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a certain king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. 24 "And when he had begun to settle them, there was brought to him one who owed him ten thousand talents.

25 "But since he did not have the means to repay, his lord commanded him to be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment to be made. 26 "The slave therefore falling down, prostrated himself before him, saying, 'Have patience with me, and I will repay you everything.' 27 "And the lord of that slave felt compassion and released him and forgave him the debt.

28 "But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and he seized him and began to choke him, saying, 'Pay back what you owe.' 29 "So his fellow slave fell down and began to entreat him, saying, 'Have patience with me and I will repay you.'

30 "He was unwilling however, but went and threw him in prison until he should pay back what was owed. 31 "So when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved and came and reported to their lord all that had happened. 32 "Then summoning him, his lord said to him, 'You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you entreated me.

33' Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, even as I had mercy on you?' 34 "And his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him. 35 "So shall My heavenly Father also do to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart."

How important are these words /concepts to us in our daily life?
Repentance, forgiveness and gratitude?

I- Admitting the wrong that we have done and asking for patience and mercy from the offended person is necessary for beneficial forgiveness. This is called repentance Verse 23-27

In the story, a servant owed the king some money. He was not able to pay (symbolizing what we owe God that we cannot pay). He asked for mercy. It was given to him. This represents repentance that was acknowledged and so mercy was granted. That is why the Lord teaches that the offending brother must be confronted privately – with his sin so that he can be resorted.

II- Administering forgiveness to the offender after a gentle but firm confrontation is a matter of obedience and faithfulness to God. verses 15-22

The Lord’s teaching is clear: Confront to clarify sin and then be willing to forgive. When Peter asked how many times should he forgive a brother who sins but keeps on asking for forgiveness (he thought 7 times was good enough), the Lord told him, 70 times seven.

III- Allowing God’s grace and mercy to be reflected in our dealings with offenders is called Gratitude and Faithfulness- verses 28 -35

The servant who has received forgiveness was expected to be forgiving also as an expression of his gratitude to the King who forgave him. His problem was that he was not grateful and so he ended up becoming an unforgiving to someone who owed him something. Ang hindi marunong magpasalamat ay hindi marunong magpatawad.

WHAT WAS IT REALLY THAT THE SERVANT RECEIVED?
MERCY- When a justly deserved punishment is withheld, that is MERCY.
GRACE- When a favor that a person does not deserve is given to him, that is GRACE.
A NEW BEGINNING- A free man

WHAT IS THIS STORY TELLING US?
The story tells us that an ungrateful and unforgiving attitude is deadly. It can destroy life.
It also tells us that we must then learn how to be grateful because a grateful man becomes able to forgive and a forgiving heart is allowed to enjoy the blessings of life.

We need to ask for forgiveness and we need to give forgiveness because: Matt 6:14 For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

Although we have been forgiven for our eternal destiny, daily sins affect daily life and so must be repented of and forgiven daily. If we do not forgive others, God will also not forgive the sins that we commit in our daily life.

John 20:22 And with that He breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven."

This has nothing to do with salvation forgiveness for God alone can do that. This has something to do with offenses we commit against each other. Forgiveness is a legal act. If we do not declare it, it has not taken place and the person can end up carrying the consequence. That is why it is important to forgive.