Anna Calwach

October 2, 2015
The Christian Academy
Forgiveness
In the first parable, the Father is overjoyed to see his son return back to him. The
son was lost, and found his way back home to his father after realizing how he has sinned
against heaven and his own father. His father was so pleased and delighted that he sent
out his servants to bring the best robe, put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet
along with a fattened calf to kill so that they could celebrate. Forgiveness is a gift that we
have been given by God. The father in the parable was so joyful for his son returning to
him that he didnt even let him finish his apology. Instead, he forgives him and accepts
him back into his home because My son was dead and is alive again. When the father
said this, it is suppose to show us how God reacts when we return to him from being lost
in sin. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him,
so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins. (Mark 11:25).
My first experience of true forgiveness was with my cousin who is about two
years younger than I am. As children, we fought countless amounts of time for idiotic
reasons, but one particular time really had me on the edge. I had faith that she would
change to become a better person and to be more kind to her parents and relatives,
including me. No one else believed that she would change her ways except for me, and I
gave her many chances only to have them broken along the way. I was fed up with her
because of the way she treated our family, with such disrespect and ignorance. That was
the day that I set it to her straight and told her that we cannot change what others want to
do with their lives, whether we like it or not unfortunately. In a situation like this, it took

me longer to truly forgive her for her actions, but I did in the end, hoping she would
change for the better.
God requires us to forgive others in order to receive his mercy because Jesus
passionately taught us to forgive others, to let go, to let him handle it. He wants us to be
at peace and for that to happen anger must be replaced with forgiveness. With Gods
mercy, we can be rewarded with eternal happiness and life. I believe that there is a
connection between the spirit of forgiveness, the Holy Spirit and happiness for the reason
being that if we forgive others, we will be happier. The Holy Spirit is there to guide us
through the path to get to God, and in order to achieve true happiness, we must forgive
others along the way, no matter how badly they have hurt us. In order to be with our
heavenly Father in Heaven, we must forgive those who have went against us or have hurt
us. Jesus came down to save us from sin and bring us to everlasting life; if he can forgive
all of us, why cant we forgive each other? For if you forgive men their trespasses, your
heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses,
neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. (Matthew 6:14-15).
Jesus explains to Peter in the second parable that we should forgive not once, not
seven times, but seventy times seven. The message Jesus is trying to send us is to forgive
others countless of times no matter what theyve done. The parable that Jesus told was to
illustrate the necessity of mercy and forgiveness. Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is
like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. (Matthew 18:23) Since the
steward could not pay his master, the master ordered his entire family to be sold to repay
the debt, but before that could happen, he said Be patient with me, and I will pay back
everything. The master showed forgiveness and cancelled the debt for him. The steward

went out and saw one of his fellow stewards who owed him as well, but instead of doing
what his master did for him, he demanded for his money. The steward said Be patient
with me and I will pay back everything just as he did, but he refused to forgive. We are
similar to the first servant, and God has pardoned us of this gigantic debt. The
Unforgiving Steward fails to extend the forgiveness he received because he does not
show the same act of kindness as his master showed for him. In other words, the
Unforgiving Steward should have done what his master had done for him, which is
forgive him.
Do I believe that the master of the Unforgiving Steward was right to restore the
original debt and punish the steward? Yes, I do believe that he was right since God would
do the same thing to us. This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless
you forgive your brother or sister from your heart. (Matthew 18:35). Jesus only spoke
the truth by saying that, and we all need to process the fact that when we come face to
face with God, we will be asked so many questions and be judged for what we have done.
If we forgive our brothers and sisters from our hearts, we will glorify God and one day be
able to receive eternal life.