A Forgiving Heart

Then the master sent for him. “You wicked servant,” he said “I cancelled all that debt of yours when you appealed to me. Were you not bound, then, to have pity on your fellow servant just as I had pity on you?” And in his anger the master handed him over to the torturers till he should pay all his debt. And that is how my heavenly Father will deal with you unless you each forgive your brother from your heart.’
Mt.18:32-35

Jesus is asked by Peter how many times he should forgive.  In reply, Jesus tells the parable of the unforgiving servant. The simple answer is we forgive as much as we have been forgiven and we have been forgiven much.

I'm always incredulous at the hardheartedness of the unforgiving servant in the parable. How could he not forgive a brother's debt of a few dollars when he had just had a debt of hundreds of thousands cancelled? Yet this is Jesus' point. I have been forgiven the incalculable debt of my many sins, yet I'm very quick to hold others to account for the speck in their eye.

But wait... there's more!  Jesus gives a very sobering warning after the parable to Peter and to me.  The fate of the unforgiving servant is my fate unless I develop a forgiving heart.

Lord Jesus, help forgiveness become my natural response to injustice. Help me develop a forgiving heart like yours.
Little Flower, please pray for me.