{"id":1534,"date":"2017-04-18T16:24:52","date_gmt":"2017-04-18T21:24:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/afriendoftheking.com\/?p=1534"},"modified":"2022-01-10T21:36:26","modified_gmt":"2022-01-11T03:36:26","slug":"you-owe-me-nothing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/afriendoftheking.com\/?p=1534","title":{"rendered":"\u201cYou Owe Me\u2026 Nothing\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

The Western Wall . Jerusalem<\/p><\/div>\n

And I owe you \u2026 Nothing (Except to love you.)! \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

With Easter still fresh on our minds, I want to challenge you, and myself, about forgiveness. About practicing “forgiveness” and “living forgiven.” I believe understanding these two concepts are curial to living a life of freedom and peace before God and with others.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not claiming to be an expert in this matter or even say I\u2019ve mastered \u201cforgiveness\u201d myself. But I do believe I\u2019ve recently received a little revelation on the subject that\u2019s profound, easy to ponder, and an \u201cacid test\u201d of sorts to determine if you are living \u201cforgiven and forgiving\u201d or not?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

St. Scholastica . Fort Smith<\/p><\/div>\n

It\u2019s two simple questions you can ask yourself. I\u2019ll tell you what they are, why they are important, and where I got them.<\/p>\n

Questions one is, \u201cDo I owe you anything?\u201d That is, am I in debt to you in any way? If the answer is \u201cyes,\u201d then I must make every effort to settle my debt by payment or seek to have it forgiven.<\/p>\n

Why is this important? Or a\u00a0goal you should always be working toward, or trying to maintain? Because it\u2019s the clear teaching of Scripture, \u201cOwe no one anything, except to love each other.\u201d (Romans 13:8a) Debts owed usually affect relationships negatively, and rob the involved parties of real peace and freedom.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Sea of Galilee . Israel<\/p><\/div>\n

Question two is, \u201cDo you owe me anything?\u201d That is are you in debt to me in anyway? If the answer is \u201cyes,\u201d then I must make every effort to collect the debt or forgive it? So that your balance sheet is\u00a0clean and does not affect your relationship with me or with others.<\/p>\n

This is the clear teaching of Jesus about His Father, and His kingdom in the area of \u201cdebt and forgiveness.\u201d Look at Matthew 18:21-35, which is perhaps the clearest and most telling truth on \u201cforgiveness\u201d in the Bible.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

The Jordan River . Israel<\/p><\/div>\n

This is where Jesus ties forgiveness to debts<\/em>. Especially in the areas of large debts of personal injury that are hard to place a price upon or repay. We see that is the context of the parable because of the way it starts with Peter\u2019s question to Jesus, \u201cHow often should I forgive my brother who sins against me?\u201d<\/p>\n

Sometimes the debt is so large, forgiveness is the only alternative to settle the affair, if the debtor is to have any chance at a fresh start, dignity, hope, and a life worth living. Still, this forgiveness is not required by justice or by law. It\u2019s a grace or mercy extended by a loving\u00a0heart out of concern for the well being of the debtor and his family.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Fort Smith . Arkansas<\/p><\/div>\n

Indeed forgiveness is best extended and understood by these statements. \u201cI forgive you. You owe me nothing.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

“Forgiveness is not the same as reconciliation, restitution, or approval of sin. Forgiving, according to Jesus in his parable of the unforgiving servant (Matthew 18:21-35), involves a singular decision of the will by which you consider another person no longer indebted to you.”
\n(from The Red Feather by Tom Elliff)<\/p>\n

Amen \u05d0\u05de\u05df<\/p>\n

In light of the huge and impossible-to-repay debt that God has forgiven us by the sacrifice of His Son, and at His Son\u2019s request, we must forgive others their much smaller debts. Do you agree? Then go and do likewise. Godspeed.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Jerusalem<\/p><\/div>\n

And may it be, or I should rather say, it will be, healing for your soul. And the souls of those about you. God\u2019s peace.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cOwe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.\u201d (Romans 13:8)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.\u201d (Matthew 6:1)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Other Quotes on Forgiveness:<\/p>\n

The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong. ~Mahatma Gandhi<\/p>\n

To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you. ~Lewis B. Smedes, “Forgiveness – The Power to Change the Past,” Christianity Today, 7 January 1983<\/p>\n

Forgiveness is a funny thing. It warms the heart and cools the sting. ~William Arthur Ward<\/p>\n

Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does enlarge the future. ~Paul Boese<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

And I owe you \u2026 Nothing (Except to love you.)! \ud83d\ude42 With Easter still fresh on our minds, I want to challenge you, and myself, about forgiveness. About practicing “forgiveness” and “living forgiven.” I believe understanding these two concepts are curial to living a life of freedom and peace before God and with others. I\u2019m […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,10,9,12,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1534","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-friendoftheking","category-be-a-leader","category-be-a-man","category-bread-for-the-spirit","category-understanding-our-times"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/afriendoftheking.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1534","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/afriendoftheking.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/afriendoftheking.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/afriendoftheking.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/afriendoftheking.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1534"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/afriendoftheking.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1534\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1548,"href":"https:\/\/afriendoftheking.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1534\/revisions\/1548"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/afriendoftheking.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1534"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/afriendoftheking.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1534"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/afriendoftheking.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1534"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}