In this week’s sermon, I explore why unforgiveness keeps us spiritually stuck - and how Jesus calls us to radical mercy in Matthew 18:21-35. We look honestly at broken relationships, bitterness, and resentment, and we ask: how do I actually forgive someone who hurt me?
🎯 KEY POINTS COVERED:
• You can’t stay holy and stay bitter. Jesus’ parable of the unforgiving servant shows that we owe God an unpayable debt, and yet he chooses mercy. That same mercy must flow out of us to others (Matthew 18:21-35). In other words: there is no such thing as an unforgiving Christian. 
• Unforgiveness keeps you chained to the past. When we refuse to forgive, we build emotional walls, live in a self-made torture chamber, and stay stuck in woundedness, anger and resentment. Jesus warns that this is spiritually dangerous, because “the unforgiving become the unforgiven” (Matthew 6:14-15; Mark 11:25; Luke 6:37). 
• Forgiveness is possible — but only through Christ. You’re not asked to pretend you weren’t hurt. You’re invited to bring that hurt to the mercy seat, release the person who “lives in your head rent-free”, and let Jesus break the chains. This is holiness in practice, not theory. 
📖 SCRIPTURE REFERENCES:
• Matthew 18:21-35 — The parable of the unforgiving servant 
• Matthew 5:7, 9 — “Blessed are the merciful… blessed are the peacemakers.” The Beatitudes frame forgiveness as the normal Christian life, not an optional extra. 
• Matthew 6:14-15 — “If you forgive… your heavenly Father will forgive you.”
• Mark 11:25 — “First forgive anyone you’re holding a grudge against…”
• Luke 6:37 — “Forgive others, and you will be forgiven.” 
• The Lord’s Prayer — “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.” (Echoed in the call to practise forgiveness daily.) 
I also draw on C.S. Lewis’ warning that refusing to forgive is, in effect, refusing God’s mercy for ourselves, and Corrie ten Boom’s powerful story of forgiving a concentration camp guard after the war - real, costly forgiveness lived out. 
These themes - unlimited forgiveness, breaking bitterness, living out mercy - are echoed again and again by preachers who teach Matthew 18 on YouTube and in church pulpits, because Jesus links our experience of God’s grace with how we treat those who’ve wounded us. 
⏱️ TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 - Introduction & Opening Prayer
05:20 - Why unforgiveness keeps you stuck (walls, wounds, broken relationships) 
10:53 - The Unforgiving Servant: our unpayable debt and God’s unthinkable mercy (Matthew 18:21-35) 
30:25 - There is no such thing as an unforgiving Christian: practising forgiveness as holiness, not just belief 
40:27 - Conclusion & Application: prayer, release, and laying unforgiveness at the mercy seat 
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I’m Rob Westwood-Payne, a Salvation Army Officer. I create daily 5-minute Battle Drill devotionals and weekly Battle Ready sermons to help Salvationists and holiness Christians live out Scripture with integrity, mission and mercy. My heart is to help you get unstuck spiritually, rebuild broken relationships, and live as a peacemaker in the places you actually are — at home, at work, on the front line of The Salvation Army’s mission.
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