In the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant, a servant owed his king a lot of money, but the king had pity and canceled the debt because the servant wasn’t able to repay. However, when a man who owed the servant a small amount of money couldn’t repay, the servant became violent and unmerciful. When the king found out the servant was unmerciful after being shown mercy, he ordered that the servant be tortured in jail until his debt was repaid.
The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant Lessons
Merriam-Webster’s dictionary defines mercy as having compassion, especially for one’s offender. Having a slightly different focus than ‘forgiveness’, mercy and forgiveness are our calls to action in the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant (Parable of the Unforgiving Servant).
Keep both of these terms in mind as you explore God’s requirements for your life, below.
1. Our Debt to God is Huge
We are sinners. If we stacked up every sin we’ve ever committed, we would see a huge mound of dirty, ugly offenses.
These sins are our debt to God. Because of our sinful nature, we’re incapable of being good enough to “repay the debt” of our sins.
Jesus ultimately paid this debt with His life, but we should never forget the massive debt that God forgave. His mercy endures forever.
Give thanks to theĀ Lord, for he is good. For his mercy endures forever.
Give thanks to the God of Gods. For his mercy endures forever.
Give thanks to the Lord of Lords. For his mercy endures forever. Psalm 136:1-3 EHV
2. Pass His Mercy Along
As Christians, we are to use Jesus’ life as our example of how to live a life pleasing to God. We are called to show mercy.
Jesus gave us countless examples of showing mercy to those who didn’t deserve it or those who had offended Him. He even forgave the people who were torturing Him as they put Him to death.
He set the standard for forgiveness and mercy at the highest level possible! Through His example, He asks the same of us in extending mercy.
He promises that those who show mercy will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Matthew 5:7 NIV
3. God Judges Our Cruelty
As much as we don’t like to think about God’s anger and wrath, a truly loving parent holds their errant children accountable.
In the same way, our Heavenly Father holds us accountable for not treating others with mercy. He gives us the perfect example by forgiving our sins, but He will hold us accountable when we don’t extend that mercy to others.
Speak and act as those who are going to be judgedĀ by the law that gives freedom,Ā because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful.Ā Mercy triumphs over judgment. James 2:12-13 NIV
4. Jesus Said to Pray About it
I think it’s worth noting that this lesson was important enough that Jesus told us to pray about it.
In the prayer that we now know as “The Lord’s Prayer”, He said in Matthew 6:11-13 that we should pray… “Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors”. This is sometimes known as “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us”.
As Christians, we expect our debt to be forgiven by God. But we shouldn’t forget about the “as we forgive our debtors” part!
Our loving Father holds us accountable to forgive others as we’ve been forgiven (aka, show mercy as we’ve been shown mercy). When we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we are asking that God should only have mercy on us to the extent we have mercy on others.
If that were the case, how much mercy would God really show us?
If you love The Lord’s Prayer, you might enjoy this free Lord’s Prayer Devotional.
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More Parables!
Do you love the parables as much as I do? You may enjoy reading life lessons on these others (listed below), these activities for adults and children, or this list of Parables and Meanings. More parable lessons are underway. See them all HERE!
Do you love journaling? Does writing down your personal reflections help you process your thoughts more fully? Perhaps these Christian writing journals will be helpful as you reflect on the life lessons of the parables.
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