We are unworthy servants ...

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“Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and recline at table’? Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, and dress properly, and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink’? Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’”

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Do these few sentences seem a bit odd to you? Does knowing that Jesus said this in the context of forgiving others help? The disciples responded to Jesus' command to forgive seven times a day saying that they needed more faith. Jesus infers here that we are simply doing "our duty" when we forgive. It puts forgiveness in a whole new light - doesn't it? Yet it helps us to understand that following Jesus means that he is Lord and we are but unworthy servants.

The other aspect of these verses is the idea that we, being unworthy servants, have not done anything to earn the forgiveness of God. This very point goes against the grain of our humanness. Somehow we have grown up thinking that God has an obligation to forgive us like a bad parent who overlooks every bit of mischief their child enters into. Yet in the Lord's prayer Jesus instructs us to ask God to forgive us only as we forgive each other. It is a kingdom principle.

I repent of all unforgiveness Lord. I am unworthy and desperately need your forgiveness. I choose to forgive.

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