Passage
Matthew 18:21-35 (ESV)
Go, Stand, and Tell the Words of Life
Acts 5:17-42
Key Verse: 5:20
Forgive from the Heart
Date: Sep. 22, 2015
Daily Bread
Key Verse: 18:35
First, "detect and hate" your sin (21-34). We do not begin to see the depth of our unworthiness, our sin, until we have lived the Christian life of faith for some time. In time we learn what it means to say "I do not deserve to have you come under my roof" (8:8). Yes, we are redeemed - beloved, precious "children of God" (1Jn 3:2), yet we still sense our unworthiness, our sin. Only as we recognize our unworthiness, our sinfulness, do we realize the depth of our spiritual poverty. And in realizing the depth of our spiritual poverty, we become humble and contrite. "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart - these, O God, you will not despise" (Ps 51:17). Aware of our own spiritual destitution, we become much less critical of others, much more willing to forgive.
Second, forgive from the heart (35). This passage is telling us that forgiveness is non-negotiable - we must forgive. But how? By truly seeing our own extreme spiritual poverty, and realizing that we have truly failed miserably in serving God, and that he has truly forgiven much.
Prayer: Dear Lord, help me - help us - to truly learn to live with broken and contrite hearts.
One Word: A broken and contrite heart is able to forgive, and has been forgiven.
