10.21- Forgiveness means that you treat others the say you have been treated by God.

 10.21-

Forgiveness means that you treat others the say you have been treated by God.  If you are disciple of Jesus it means that you have been forgiven of your sins by God.  This releases you of a burden of guilt and shame before a Holy God.

Jesus taught that the basis of a good prayer life is being a forgiving person.  Forgive our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.

To forgive others is not to allow them to continue to hurt you or others.  We must stand up for justice for others and ourselves as well.

With true forgiveness we release things over to God to take care of.  We do not carry resentment or bitterness which makes us an unpleasant person.  Bitterness kills us.  It is emotional poison.  

Jesus told a great story to illustrate the problem.

Matthew 18.

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.[g]

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[h] 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.[i] 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.”