How Would God Forgive?
By Wm. Covert
PETER asked for instruction upon the limit of forgiveness that brethren should manifest toward each other, and suggested that seven times would probably be as often as one brother would be expected to forgive another. But Jesus said that forgiveness should be extended to cover seventy times seven offenses. Indeed, there seemed to be no place of stopping. This was illustrated by the kindness of the king who forgave one of his subjects a debt of about ten million dollars, simply because the man pleaded for clemency, and expressed a willingness to do his best. And the man would have been wholly free from the entire debt forever if he had manifested the grace of forgiveness toward a fellow debtor. But the one who had been forgiven the great debt, went and arrested a man who owed him about fifteen dollars, and had him cast into prison because of the debt. The leniency of the king in the parable represents the forgiving spirit of the Lord, while the unkindness of the man toward his fellow debtor represents the unforgiving spirit of man toward his fellow men. In the illustration, the Lord is represented as more willing to forgive a debt of several millions than man is to forgive a debt of a few dollars. What then is the significance of the prayer, “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors”? Does not the lesson call upon us to improve in the spirit of forgiveness toward our fellow men? Do we make it hard for men who trespass against us? Surely the lesson shows that more lenity is demanded by the great Teacher than most people manifest toward each other. WM. COVERT.