(Matthew 18) – Greatness and Forgiveness
Questions reveal a lot about us. They express what’s in our hearts and what’s important to us.
The disciples asked Jesus about what type of person is going to be greatest in the kingdom of God, and like always, His answer surprises them.
A child will be greatest.
Not necessarily a literal child, but a person who trusts God the way a child intrinsically trusts.
We don’t elevate that type of childlike trust as an admirable trait in adults. We tend to encourage adults to be skeptical and cautious of others.
Not everyone can be trusted, but God can.
We are not to be skeptical of God, but rather because He has proven Himself to be trustworthy, we trust in Him wholeheartedly.
Jesus also says that we have to take sin seriously.
We shouldn’t be surprised that stumbling blocks exist, but we shouldn’t be the people through whom those stumbling blocks come.
God’s heart is for the lost. He loves us and doesn’t desire for anyone to perish.
Following Him means mimicking His heart. He is a God of forgiveness, and wants for His people to be forgivers as well.
A forgiven heart knows the grace it has received, it understands that it deserves nothing, and especially understands the weight of their own sin against God.
When we rightly understand the weight of our own sin against God, we’ll look at others sins against us in their proper perspective as well.
By way of comparison, no one could do to us what we have done to God. And since God has forgiven us of an eternal debt, it’s only right for us to forgive someone of a much lesser debt.
We are grace people. That’s the heart of our faith.
