Love is patient and kind. Patience is not a characteristic that is natural to us; we live in an impetuous culture. Everything is right at our fingertips. Why
bother with snail-mail when can get immediate responses with email? There is no need to wait until we have a day free to go to the mall, just order online; and, by the way, order next day air and you'll have it tomorrow. Jesus told a story about a man who lacked both patience and kindness. One day, a king decided to settle his accounts with his servants. One by one each servant was brought before the king. One particular servant owed the king ten thousand talents. A talent is equivalent to about 20 years of wages; in other words this man would never be able to repay his debt in his lifetime! Knowing that he would be thrown into debtor's prison for the rest of his life, he fell
before the king begging him to be patient until he could pay the debt. The king, realizing the hopeless situation this man was in, forgave him the entire debt. Not long after this, this same servant found out that another fellow servant owed him a hundred deanarii; one denarii is worth the equivalent of one day's wage. He grabbed his fellow servant and began to choke him demanding that he pay his debt immediately. His fellow servant fell down begging him to be patient until he could pay the entire debt. The servant angrily threw him into prison until he could pay the entire debt. Remember, nothing that we do is hidden from God; in this case the other servants, seeing what had happened, went and reported it to the king. The king then called for the wicked servant and told him that, considering the great debt that had been forgiven him, he should have had pity on his fellow servant and forgiven him that little debt as well. In anger, the king threw this wicked servant into prison until his entire debt was paid. Why did Jesus tell this story? What was He trying to illustrate? Jesus, through His death on the cross, forgave our eternal debt which is impossible for anyone to pay by themselves. Yet, how quickly we forget; we are impatient and unkind toward our fellow man, and refuse to forgive the tiny infractions they have committed toward us. How often we hold a spirit of bitterness toward people because they dared to have wronged us! God is love! Love is patient and kind. Pray today that you will be patient and kind to all of those around you, no matter how they treat you. No matter how unfairly they treat you, it is only miniscule compared to your great debt of sin against God.
bother with snail-mail when can get immediate responses with email? There is no need to wait until we have a day free to go to the mall, just order online; and, by the way, order next day air and you'll have it tomorrow. Jesus told a story about a man who lacked both patience and kindness. One day, a king decided to settle his accounts with his servants. One by one each servant was brought before the king. One particular servant owed the king ten thousand talents. A talent is equivalent to about 20 years of wages; in other words this man would never be able to repay his debt in his lifetime! Knowing that he would be thrown into debtor's prison for the rest of his life, he fell
before the king begging him to be patient until he could pay the debt. The king, realizing the hopeless situation this man was in, forgave him the entire debt. Not long after this, this same servant found out that another fellow servant owed him a hundred deanarii; one denarii is worth the equivalent of one day's wage. He grabbed his fellow servant and began to choke him demanding that he pay his debt immediately. His fellow servant fell down begging him to be patient until he could pay the entire debt. The servant angrily threw him into prison until he could pay the entire debt. Remember, nothing that we do is hidden from God; in this case the other servants, seeing what had happened, went and reported it to the king. The king then called for the wicked servant and told him that, considering the great debt that had been forgiven him, he should have had pity on his fellow servant and forgiven him that little debt as well. In anger, the king threw this wicked servant into prison until his entire debt was paid. Why did Jesus tell this story? What was He trying to illustrate? Jesus, through His death on the cross, forgave our eternal debt which is impossible for anyone to pay by themselves. Yet, how quickly we forget; we are impatient and unkind toward our fellow man, and refuse to forgive the tiny infractions they have committed toward us. How often we hold a spirit of bitterness toward people because they dared to have wronged us! God is love! Love is patient and kind. Pray today that you will be patient and kind to all of those around you, no matter how they treat you. No matter how unfairly they treat you, it is only miniscule compared to your great debt of sin against God.
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