Matthew 18:35 - So also my heavenly father will do to you unless you forgive your brother (or sister) from your heart.
We have circled around to the original question: How many times must I forgive someone? This proclamation strongly implies that forgiveness is essential to having a good relationship with God. When we, who have been forgiven so much, refuse to forgive others, we become monsters: greedy, judgmental, grudgeholders. That is the natural consequence of not having a forgiving heart: a heart of stone.
A reminder here, that this verse says nothing about forgetting or keeping that person in your life. Sometimes, those are not wise or possible.
Having said these two things, I'm troubled here by Jesus' statement that God would send us to prison or torture until our debts are paid. It would be easy to say, "Well you can carry the metaphor too far" (Jesus carried it that far!) or even, "Well, it's not God it's you or the person who is unforgiving choosing such." Neither of these is satisfying to me. Also, well, anything God does is good. I'm still thinking on this. ...
B
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