Patience

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What is Patience?

When we think about patience, we tend to think about how long we are able to be bored with something before we begin to complain about it. That is often how we are taught about patience as kids, but the Bible speaks about patience in a much different way.

Patience is a lot more than just waiting for the next movie or video game, or sitting in a store while your mom shops without complaining.

The way the bible uses the word for patience is often translated into words like slow to anger, forbearance, longsuffering, endurance, tolerance and steadfastness.

When talking about patience, the Bible seems to be much less concerned about shopping and video games and much more concerned with relationship and forgiveness.

The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant

Our Impatience in Forgiveness

Jesus had just gotten done teaching about how we are supposed to go about dealing with conflicts with one another

V.21 Peter jumps up and shows that he knows he is supposed to forgive others when there is conflict. He is starting to absorb the teaching of Jesus.

However, Peter wants to know how long he is supposed to forgive a toxic person until he can just cut him off or get revenge and collect what he’s owed.

He wants to know if he has to forgive someone as many as seven times before he is allowed to exact justice from that person

Do you see the heart of impatience here?

Maybe you don’t see this as impatience, and maybe you’re like most of the world and you actually believe that Peter is being far too patient.

“Dont cross oceans for people”

We live in a world that tells you to cut people off if they don’t serve you or if they aren’t healthy for you

There is some wisdom in making sure that your best friends aren’t toxic people, but we aren’t talking about becoming best friends with people. We are talking about loving people and having patience with them.

The world believe that if someone wrongs you, you are no longer required to love or forgive them. If someone has wronged you seven times, then its your fault for forgiving them that many times.

But Jesus here says that forgiving someone seven times is not enough. In fact, you must forgive everyone indefinitely. There is no limit to how much or how often you must forgive someone.

Why Must We Forgive So Much?

Answered Plainly, its because of how much we have been forgiven. We are called to be patient because of how much patience we have been shown.

The Weight of Our Guilt

How much have we been forgiven? We begin to see the weight of our own debt to God in comparison to the debts that we are owed from those who have wronged us in the parable of this unforgiving servant.

10,000 talents vs. 100 denarii

A denarii is considered to be one day’s labor for a servant like this. A talent is about 6,000 denarii in this situation. So for this man who owes 10,000 talents, it would take him 20 years to pay off one talent. 200,000 years to pay off his whole debt.

How ridiculous for him to claim that he would be able to pay off this debt!

His master forgives him of his debt, knowing full well that he will never be repaid.

The Size of Mercy and Grace

Heres the thing about debt, it doesn’t disappear and vanish off into the universe somewhere. Debts have to be paid. The master here had to suffer serious loss in order to forgive his servant, and its when we understand the weight of our guilt that we understand the immense size of God’s mercy

In order to forgive our sins, God had to offer his only Son, Jesus Christ, as a sacrifice on our behalf. Jesus had to take on flesh and be crucified and separated from God because of the mess we put ourselves in.

The blood of God Himself had to be spilled so that we could be clean. When God forgives us, its not like our sin just vanished off somewhere into the universe. Jesus Christ had to pay our unbearable penalty on the cross.

So yes, having patience with those that wrong us will cost us something. Sometimes it will cost us a lot. But it will never come close to costing us what it cost God.

We have owed a crippling debt to God because of our sins and disobedience against him. In this parable, Jesus says it would take us 200,000 years to pay it off, but of course he just meant to say it is impossible for us to pay it off.

How would you imagine this servant would act after having such a debt paid off? He has just been given freedom and a life, and not only for him but for his whole family also.

He goes and tracks down someone who owes him about 3 or 4 months worth of wages, and throws him in jail mercilessly.

When you read this you have to be thinking to yourself, “how on Earth could he possibly do that? Sure, 4 months of wages is a decent amount, but after all that he’s just been forgiven? How could he be so impatient with this man? How could he not cancel his debts against him?”

But the truth is that we are this unforgiving servant.

We hold grudges against people that wrong us.

If someone gossips about us, picks on us, steals from us or just flat out does us dirty, we demand justice!

After all that God has done and suffered to forgive us, we turn around and hold grudges against people? How could we be so impatient? So unforgiving?

How Do We Respond?

We serve a God who is patient and forgiving beyond measure.

If the LORD doesn’t deal with us according to our sins or repay us for our iniquities, how can we deal with others according to their wrongs or demand payment for their sins? If the LORD removes our transgressions from us, how can we force someone to live with theirs forever? If the LORD shows us compassion in His patience, how can we show others anger and hold their wrongs over their head forever?

Christian, if you truly understand all that you’ve been forgiven, then you must cancel all debts that are owed to you. You must offer patience and forgiveness to match that of our LORD to all.

CHALLENGE: Think of someone who you have had a really hard time forgiving lately. In light of what God has done for you and all the patience and forgiveness he has shown you, even though it is going to cost you, forgive them from your heart.