"Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him?"

Scripture: Matthew 18:21-19:1

Jesus teaches that one must forgive in order to be forgiven. If we do not forgive our fellow human being we cannot expect God to forgive us. James says that "judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy" (James 2:13). Mercy is truly a gift and it is offered in such a way that justice is not negated. Mercy "seasons" justice as "salt" seasons meat and gives it flavor. Mercy follows justice and perfects it. To pardon the unrepentant is not mercy but license. C.S. Lewis, a 20th century Christian author wrote: "Mercy will flower only when it grows in the crannies of the rock of Justice: transplanted to the marshlands of mere Humanitarianism, it becomes a man-eating weed, all the more dangerous because it is still called by the same name as the mountain variety." If we want mercy shown to us we must be ready to forgive others as God has forgiven us