If books were kept on us, we would find, like the dishonest manager in the story, that the debt we ve been forgiven by God is beyond measure. What we have to forgive each other for cannot compare with what God has already forgiven us. I know I would have used up my 490 marks a long time ago. Now, I m not saying that forgiveness means we ought to ignore sin or let evil go unchallenged. But to forgive one another the way God has forgiven us requires us to deal with sin together, in a loving manner, with a constant awareness that we all stand in need of forgiveness.
Forgiveness is hard, it s risky business.
And it can t be done at all if we spend all our time updating our account books. The man I ate dinner with tonight killed my brother. These words were spoken by a stylish woman at a banquet in Seattle hosted by Prison Fellowship Ministries. Compelled by Christ s command to forgive, Ruth Youngsman had gone to her enemy and pronounced forgiveness. Then she had taken him to her father s deathbed, prompting reconciliation.