Money Can Make Us Do Illogical Things
“But when the man left the king, he went to a fellow servant who owed him a few thousand dollars. He grabbed him by the throat and demanded instant payment.
“His fellow servant fell down before him and begged for a little more time. ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it,’ he pleaded. But his creditor wouldn’t wait. He had the man arrested and put in prison until the debt could be paid in full.
Matthew 18:28-30
The Parable of the Unforgiving Debtor teaches us an extremely valuable lesson about forgiveness. Jesus paints this beautiful image of what it looks like to show compassion to others by forgiving their debts. While the principle of forgiveness is the main lesson Jesus is sharing with his disciples, there are many other lessons to be learned when we read between the lines.
In this parable, the king was moved to compassion as he realized the servant would never be able to pay back the debt in full and decided to let him off the hook. He showed great mercy on this man. In the book of Proverbs, we learn that we are a slave to our lenders until our debt has been paid back. So now that this servant has forgiven his debts, he is financially free.
This newly acquired financial freedom however has gone to his head. It seems like this man now feels entitled to more. Instead of living a life of gratitude for what the king has done for him, he becomes greedy.
The reality that money makes us do illogical things is all too common even today. We can easily fall prey to the love of money and forget who it is that our money truly belongs to in the first place. We get our hands on a little bit of it and feel entitled to more, just like the servant did.
Has this happened to you? I have had my fair share of moments where I have chosen to be greedy rather than generous. This parable is a great reminder that we must be careful with the wealth God has entrusted to us. It is not a sin to have money, but God calls us to use it wisely.
The servant then received a fitting punishment from the king for his actions.
“Then the king called in the man he had forgiven and said, ‘You evil servant! I forgave you that tremendous debt because you pleaded with me. Shouldn’t you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?’ Then the angry king sent the man to prison to be tortured until he had paid his entire debt.”
Matthew 18:32-34
Jesus is trying to express the importance of showing compassion towards others. You can do this with the way we use our money. If you have been mismanaging your money you can change your ways! Seek forgiveness from God, and then learn to become excellent at managing your money!
Your Friend,
Katie Jones
Reflection Questions
What have you done with your money recently that was rather illogical?
Is there something from your past that you think is outside of the forgiveness of Christ? What about you, or your previous words and actions, do you think God struggles to forgive or has not yet fully forgiven?
Are you withholding forgiveness from someone? Why are you choosing to remember their sin?
What short-term strategies might you need to employ to reduce the opportunities of mismanagement of your money?
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