Main Scriptures: Matthew 18:21-35

Additional Scriptures: Hebrews 12:15, Ephesians 4:32. Romans 3:23, 12:2, 1 Corinthians 13:5, 2 Corinthians 10:4-5

POINTS:

• We all have debt with God that we can never repay and that debt is sin.

• Our sins bring us into a heavenly courtroom, where we see that our sin-debt is a debt we can never repay.

• Jesus pays for our sin-debt on the cross through His body. He forgives us.

• Jesus calls us to that same kind of forgiveness.

• A mental courtroom is a place where we put our performance and the performance of others on trial.

• Unforgiveness is a form of self-torture.

• When we build our case against others, we are also building the debt that we have to forgive.

• When we are in a mental courtroom with one person we will be in there with more and more people, which leads to a victim identity (powerlessness).

• Our sin of unforgiveness doesn’t just affect us, it affects those closest to us.

• We can be stuck in a mental courtroom prosecuting ourselves.

• The way out of the mental courtroom is to take the negative thoughts toward others and ourselves captive and choose forgiveness.

• Forgiveness is choosing to pay the emotional debt that someone owes us with the love of Jesus.