Someone once pointed out to me that, according to the above passage, remembering that we have been cleansed from our past sins (in a sense, where we come from) enables us to possess such great qualities as goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness and love.

How such a principle worked baffled me at first – until I read the parable of the unforgiving servant one day.

In Mt 18:23-35, Jesus tells the parable of a servant who was forgiven an enormous debt which he owed to his master, but who later could not forgive a fellow servant who owed him an insignificant amount.  When the master heard of what had happened, he called the first servant to account, and handed him over to the jailers until such time as he repaid his debt.

A key to understanding the behaviour of the unforgiving servant lies in the following verse:

“The servant fell on is knees before him [his master].  ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’” (Mt 18:26, NIV).

Well, the master instead chose to forgive the debt entirely.  But it didn’t seem to have dawned on the servant, who had pleaded for patience rather than the gracious act of forgiveness.  It seems that he was still trying to repay his debt, getting whatever money he could scrounge up.  Or at least the enormity of his master’s goodness towards him had not sunk in.  If he really understood how much he was forgiven, he wouldn’t have acted the way he did.  As Jesus said of a woman who washed his feet, “…her many sins have been forgiven – for she loved much.  But he who has been forgiven little loves little.” (Lk 7:47, NIV)  If only the servant understood how much he had been forgiven, he would have loved much, and in turn forgiven his fellow servant.  Because forgiveness and love are inextricably linked.

And so if we remember where we come from – if we can fully appreciate the extent of God’s forgiveness (which is never little) and the price God paid – well, apart from being humbling, it has to help us better grasp God’s love.  And that’s the start of great things.  As the apostle Paul wrote:

“… I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge – that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” (Eph 3:17-19, NIV).

The “fullness of God” – that must include faith, goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness and love.  Ours, If we could just know his love, and fathom his forgiveness.  And never forget.

– Joey