Be patient with me!

"Be patient with me," he begged, "and I will pay back everything" (Matthew 18:26) The wicked servant didn’t plead for his debt to be forgiven. Instead he arrogantly asked his master to simply put off or delay his judgment until he could pay back all he owed. The man was oblivious to the size of his debt and his inability to repay. He was deluded into thinking, “Just give me a little more time and I will make it right.” How insulting those words sound when the damage is so great and the debtor is so powerless!

I think and act and speak this way more often than I would ever want you to know. I make light of my sins, and favorably compare my debt to the debts of others. I foolishly think that a good day or hour somehow makes up for a week of thoughtlessness. Yet, like the wicked servant, the Master has wiped away my entire debt.

How amazing! Not just our sin, but even our repentance can be an ugly thing to witness as we find it so hard to give up the notion that if only we had enough time we could get it right. This is true for you as well. The Master wipes away your sin and cancels the unpayable debt you owe him.


With this parable Jesus reminds us that God has forgiven us far more than we will ever be called on to forgive our brother. And when appreciate the magnitude of God’s grace, when we appreciate how much we have been forgiven, we will also want to be forgiving. We too will forgive from the heart and gladly do good to those who sin against us.

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