So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives his brother from his heart. - Matthew 18:35

The Gospel is a parable told by Jesus Christ to Apostle Peter when he asked Him how many times he should forgive his brother.  According to Jesus, the kingdom of Heaven is like a king who decided to settle his accounts with his servants.  Since one of the king's servants was unable to pay back his loan, the servant was to be sold, along with his wife and children.  The servant begged the king to give him more time to pay off his debt. Because the king was merciful, he forgave his servant.  However, after that, the servant went to another person who owed Him money.  Even though that person begged for more time also, the servant was cruel and demanded the money right away.  When he couldn't pay, the servant had that person thrown into prison.  This incident came to the king's attention, and the servant was punished for his wickedness.

The parable tells us that we should be forgiving and merciful like God. Even though we commit sins and wicked deeds, God will forgive us and give us time to renew our lives if we repent.  However, sometimes we are not as forgiving as God. When we are hurt or get offended by other people, we do not easily forgive, which is unfair considering how many times God has already forgiven us even though we offend and go against His words.  If we refuse to forgive, it is like saying that we are better than God, who gives us never ending chances.  The parable is a simple way to explain why we should be forgiving.


Everybody makes mistakes.  We are only humans after all.  We should keep that in our minds the next time someone transgresses against us.  Always remember that if God is merciful enough to forgive us from our sins, we should also be merciful enough to forgive the people who transgress against us.  We should be kind, loving and forgiving to them like how God is to us.

-Vianna Saguid:

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