ISAIAH 55:2 - 'Unforgiveness'

"If the Son therefore shall make you free, you shall be free indeed." (John 8:36) I'm sorry; did I give you the impression that I was done with this topic? I said it was one of the easiest things to look at; I did not say that it would be easy. Unforgiveness is like a cancer of the heart; if left alone it can destroy our very souls; at the very least, it will definitely destroy our walk, and our testimony of God's forgiveness which was meant for us. I think the root of unforgiveness starts with ourselves; yes, I said ourselves. Yesterday morning after posting the blog, I began thinking about today's post and how I would continue on this subject. Originally I thought I would share about how important it is to forgive others, and then finish off with: "And we must also forgive ourselves". By the end of the day, I had felt God was showing me something else; something quite extraordinary. I believe God was showing me how much we really love ourselves, and we prove that by the way we are always putting ourselves above others. This made me ponder on something else; we are also really complex and crafty when it comes to the things of the heart; especially, when it comes to protecting our own hearts. So, when it comes to the things of the heart, I thought the best place to start, would be right here at home. Maybe, just maybe, the reason that we choose not to forgive someone else, is because we have not forgiven ourselves. And because we do not want to even try and consider the task involved in forgiving ourselves, we would rather to not forgive someone else, in a hope that in doing so, we would mask the unforgiveness that we have for ourselves. (Did you leave?) Okay; if you are still there, then try and consider this: Maybe the reason that we do not consider forgiving ourselves, is actually because we are still holding onto something that has caused us to sin in the first place. Which really would mean that we have gladly received forgiveness for the sin, but have not yet relinquished the sin in our hearts; interesting isn't it. Would you maybe call this 'An unrepentant heart'? Jesus gave a parable, or a story, about forgiving others, and it is found in Matthew 18:23-35. There was a certain king, who while taking account of his servants, one was brought before him that owed a large sum of money. This servant had no ability to pay, so the king made a command that he be sold, along with his whole family and all that he had, so payment could be made. So the servant begged for mercy, asked the king to have patience, and promised to repay him, (somehow). Then the king had mercy, loosed him and forgave him of his debt. Then this same servant went out and found one of his fellow servants that only owed him a very small amount; he took him by the throat and said: "Pay me what you owe me!". His fellow servant begged for mercy because he could not pay him; and he asked him to have patience with him and promised to repay him. But he would not forgive him; but instead had him thrown into prison until his debt would be paid. Why, oh why would he not forgive his fellow servant of this little debt, considering such a large debt that he had been forgiven of? Could it be, that really in his own heart he believed that he would become indebted again? In other words; even though he had been forgiven of the debt, he still held unto the life of a debtor; which in turn made him to not have pity on his fellow servant for the debt that he was owed...I'm just saying. But really, when it comes to us forgiving others, what is easier to do; forgive, or not forgive, (that is the question). What is the easiest on us to do? Okay; maybe we should look at our friend again who was forgiven much, but could not forgive little. What would have been the easiest thing for him to do? To have forgiven his fellow servant by saying: "Hey, I was just forgiven so much by the king, therefore I am going to forgive you"; Or to not forgive, get angry at his fellow servant and then have him thrown into prison? Did he get satisfied doing the thing that he did? Did he really have to put forth more energy by doing what was wrong, verses if he had done what was right? Look at where he ended up: After doing what he did, his fellow servants saw it and went and told the king. The king then called him into his presents and said: "O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all thy debt, because thou desiredst me: Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellow servant, even as I had pity on thee?" And the king had the man delivered to the tormentors until his debt was fully paid. Look where he ended up; unforgiveness will take us from being set free, to again being held in bondage. I bet, that had this man forgiven his fellow servant, and word would have gotten back to the king; that he would have found a check in his mailbox...I'm just saying. "Wherefore do you labour for that which satisfies not?"