And out of pity for him, the lord of that slave released him and forgave his debt. (Matthew 18:27 NRSV Bible)
The King in today's scripture reading, forgave his slave so that he could live in peace with himself. The King had pity for the slave. The King knew in his own heart that if he did not forgive the slave, he would be troubled. He would not sleep at nights or be at peace with himself, unless he released the slave of his debt. So, the King forgave in order to better his life and the life of the slave.

In the same way, we need to take care of ourselves. We need to forgive one another, so that we can be at peace with ourselves and with God. If we don't, we hurt ourselves more than anyone else.

I remember a story of a little girl who had a fight with her sister. As the day passed, she refused to speak to her sister. At bedtime, their mother said, "Don't you think you should forgive your sister before you go to sleep? The Bible says we should not let "the sun go down on our anger." The little girl thought for a moment and replied, "But how can I keep the sun from going down?"

There are many people that like to nurture resentment. I have found, in my own life, that holding on to resentment hurts me a lot more than it hurts anyone else. How about you?

Dear Father, in my humanness I seem to want to hold on to things that hurt. Show me a better way of living in peace through forgiveness. In Jesus name, Amen.

Ron Newhouse

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