https://odb.org/2025/04/23/to-infinity-and-beyond
Matthew 18:21–35 (NIV): 21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”
22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times. 23 “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold was brought to him. 25 Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt. 26 “At this, the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ 27 The servant’s master took pity on him, cancelled the debt, and let him go. 28 “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded. 29 “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’ 30 “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened. 32 “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I cancelled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34 In anger, his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured until he should pay back all he owed. 35 “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”
The above passage from Matthew 18 is a little long but speaks of a very important principle that our Lord Jesus Himself taught, that is, there is expectation in heaven that if God treats us special, we ought to treat others special too. Thus, if God forgives us multiple times for the sins we committed, we must, in return, forgive others for their sins against us. If God does that to infinity and beyond, we need to likewise do so. It is quite impossible as we are only human, but in God, all things are possible. So let’s do so with the power and strength of the Holy Spirit.
If the Lord doesn’t feel He lost out when He chose to forgive us again and again, then we must not feel we lost out when we do the same with others. Forgiveness and compassion must be an integral part of us. Let His will for our lives be done here on earth as it is heaven.
A good application of this is when we catch a good break like the servant in the story above who was forgiven of his debt of 10,000 bags of gold (Jesus was obviously using hyperbole to illustrate the point). Perhaps our boss was compassionate to us when we made a major mistake. Maybe we fumbled badly on something important, but he forgave us, managed the ramifications, and told us to move on.
If our subordinates do the same thing, we must likewise forgive them, manage the fallout, and move on. Give others the break that we ourselves received from God so that Jesus will not judge us to be an ungrateful servant. Thus, if we are blessed with a good bonus, we must be generous in our giving or if our business did very well, we must reward our staff with a good bonus. Thankfulness and gratefulness are hallmarks of a good and faithful servant of Christ. If we receive grace and mercy, let us be gracious and merciful. Do this both in words and deeds. Always remember that change must come from within. Let genuine love and compassion flow from our thankful and grateful hearts! Amen!
Ronnie's Thoughts 