Faith to Forgive
Those who have faith to forgive also have faith to receive forgiveness.
Only those who have forgiveness in their heart have the authority to forgive their debtors. God cannot forgive our debtors for us. Such immense power belongs only to those with a sick heart. This is why He orders us to forgive.
Only those who have a heart that is grief-free can wish well upon others. How can a grief-stricken soul bless someone or wish them well?
A Christian may have faith to conquer a good marriage, achieve financial success, healing; this is, he has faith to gain the whole world, but doesn’t have faith to forgive, therefore, he will not have faith to receive forgiveness. After all, it is written and determined:
For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. Matthew 6.14-15
See, numbers don’t lie:
In the parable of the Unforgiving Servant (Matthew 18.23-35) the Lord Jesus makes it clear that our debt in regards to Him is infinitely greater than those we acquire among each other, mere men.
Take a look at the numbers: the first servant owed the king 10,000 talents;
1 talent equals 6,000 days of work (6,000 dinarii);
That servant’s debt was equal to 10,000 talents times 6,000 dinarii = 60 million dinarii;
This means that this servant would have to work 60 million days to pay his debt. So, he would have to live and work for approximately 165,000 years.
The second servant owed the first only 100 dinarii; this is, a little over 3 months of work. But he did not forgive him.
The Lord Jesus makes it very clear that our debts with Him are not payable. Yet, when we humble ourselves and confess our sins, He forgives us.
In return, He demands that we forgive the faults, flaws and mistakes of others. Otherwise, we will not receive His forgiveness as well.