forgiveness, full and free

i am reading a book for Bible study: when sinners say i do by dave harvey. it has been great so far but very humbling, which i think is the point. this week the chapter is about forgiveness and i knew the basic ideas of the chapter, i even use ch. 18 in matthew to help me remember what real forgiveness should be. but often times i know it in my head and not in my heart. the following passage displays God's forgiveness of our debt and our poor realization of it in how we treat other sinners just like us. 

 ^23-25"The kingdom of God is like a king who decided to square accounts with his servants. As he got under way, one servant was brought before him who had run up a debt of a hundred thousand dollars. He couldn't pay up, so the king ordered the man, along with his wife, children, and goods, to be auctioned off at the slave market.

 ^26-27"The poor wretch threw himself at the king's feet and begged, 'Give me a chance and I'll pay it all back.' Touched by his plea, the king let him off, erasing the debt.

 ²⁸"The servant was no sooner out of the room when he came upon one of his fellow servants who owed him ten dollars. He seized him by the throat and demanded, 'Pay up. Now!'

 ^29-31"The poor wretch threw himself down and begged, 'Give me a chance and I'll pay it all back.' But he wouldn't do it. He had him arrested and put in jail until the debt was paid. When the other servants saw this going on, they were outraged and brought a detailed report to the king.

 ^32-35"The king summoned the man and said, 'You evil servant! I forgave your entire debt when you begged me for mercy. Shouldn't you be compelled to be merciful to your fellow servant who asked for mercy?' The king was furious and put the screws to the man until he paid back his entire debt. And that's exactly what my Father in heaven is going to do to each one of you who doesn't forgive unconditionally anyone who asks for mercy." - the message paraphrase

in my life i no longer want to act like a child of God who has been forgiven so much yet expects so much in return from others. i want to be forgiving in light of how much i have been forgiven. i hope this can encourage you today. i leave you with a quote from the chapter by ken sande, 

"forgiveness can be a costly activity. when you cancel debt, it does not just simply disappear. instead, you absorb a liability that someone else deserves to pay. similarly, forgiveness requires that you absorb certain effects of another person's sins and you release that person from liability to punishment. this is precisely what Christ accomplished on Calvary." 

think about that because forgiven sinners forgive sin. (also from the book)