“Instead, he went out and threw him in prison until he repaid the debt.” (Matthew 18:30)
A few years ago, my husband and I watched a British mini-series called “Little Dorrit.” We enjoyed it immensely. The story began inside a debtor’s prison where the main character’s father lived and raised his three children.
Debtor’s prison?! It was a real thing, just as I read in the Bible.
Oh my. Most of us would be in big trouble if we treated debt today as it was back then! There would be very few living the American Dream…as most of us would have been locked up for all sorts of debt. Credit card, school, and mortgage debt, to name a few!
Sadly though, I think most of us are already in prison, but not because of the aforementioned debts.
There is a debt called UNFORGIVENESS. It’s not an IOU that we hold onto, but rather a UOME – “You Owe Me.” We throw each other in jail until we are satisfied with a type of repayment. As there is no value and cap limit to this debt though, how can we ever be satisfied?
Sometimes we would say to ourselves – if, and only if, this person would genuinely apologize, we would let them off the hook. Really? Instead, we end up adding one more UOME to the pile. “You owe me a sincere apology.” Other examples are:
“You owe me an explanation.”
“You owe me a ‘thank you.’”
“You owe me your loyalty.”
“You owe me a shout-out to the world about how I was good to you.”
“You owe me your time and affection.”
“You owe me a reply to an e-mail and five text messages.”
I will rip up all my UOMEs. People should owe me nothing. I will release all the offenses and misgivings. And here comes the surprise twist – I hear the unshackling of chains. Little did I know I have been held captive, and now I can walk free!
Search your drawers for all your UOMEs. Tear them in half or burn them, if you prefer a more dramatic effect. Then join me on the outside and we will dance on streets of gold.