Matthew 18:21-35
Parable of the Unforgiving Servant
21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”
22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.
23 “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold was brought to him. 25 Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.
26 “At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ 27 The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.
28 “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.
29 “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’
30 “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.
32 “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34 In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
35 “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”
God, I think, never gets tired of forgiving us...God's Plan is to forgive us based on His Son Jesus dying on the cross...We are required to confess our sins to God or Jesus, and trust in the LORD and trust also in His Son...God has given us forgiveness and wants and expects us to forgive others...We are told this in the LORD's Prayer when Jesus says forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation...So we are to forgive others as the LORD has forgiven us...
We might assume that God does not tire of us asking Him for His forgiveness, because Jesus told Peter when he came to Jesus and asked, “LORD, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me?...Up to seven times?”...Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.”...So let us not tire of confessing to Him when we sin...