有一名醫生在治療癌症病人近30年之後，決定退休關閉診所。當他找會計事務所處理診所的財務時，他選擇免除病人還未償還的65萬美元醫療費用。這位醫生在一個相關的訪談中解釋說：「當我看到病人不但要為自己的病情擔憂，還要擔心他們的家人，他們的工作，以及醫療費用的問題，這讓我感到難過和不安。」

即使我們從未背負龐大的金錢債務，但我們每個人都曾在屬靈層面經歷過相似的情況。聖經將罪比作「債」（馬太福音6章12節），並指出我們根本無力償還欠上帝的債。我們無法藉著捐錢做善事、服務別人，或跟上帝談條件來償還我們積欠的債務。耶穌是我們唯一的盼望，只有祂能藉著受死與復活，「塗抹了在律例上所寫、攻擊我們、有礙於我們的字據，把它撤去，釘在十字架上」（歌羅西書2章14節）。

一旦接受耶穌為我們的過犯所作的犧牲，我們的人生就如同展開全新的一頁，罪債已完全被免除，不需要再背負罪的重擔了！當上帝幫助我們以愛心對待生活中的人事物的時候，願上帝的憐憫與饒恕照亮這個世界。

A doctor decided to retire after treating cancer patients for nearly thirty years. While working with a billing company to resolve his clinic’s finances, he opted to forgive $650,000 of debt people still owed him. “I’ve always been rather uncomfortable with sick patients not only having to worry about their own health,” the physician explained in a related interview, “[but also] their families, and their jobs, [and] money. That’s always tugged at me.”

Even if we’ve never been deep in financial debt, all of us have experienced something similar in a spiritual sense. The Bible likens sin to “debts” (Matthew 6:12). It also says there’s no way for us to repay what we owe God. We can’t donate money to charity, serve others, or work out a deal with Him to cover what we owe. Jesus is our only hope. Through His death and resurrection, Christ “canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross” (Colossians 2:14).

Accepting Jesus’ sacrifice for the wrong things we’ve done means waking up to a new day, completely free from the burden of sin. May God’s mercy and forgiveness shine into the world as He helps us lovingly address people and circumstances in our lives.