Mercy is offered to everyone. (The unforgiving servant. Matthew 18:23-35)

Mercy is offered to everyone (The unforgiving servant Matthew 18:23-35)
Here in America, we live in a nation where certain things are offered to everyone, like freedom. You do not have earn it, pay for it, or even apply for freedom all you must do is be born an American citizen or obtain American citizenship and you are granted certain freedoms by our constitution. Although freedom is offered to everyone there are stipulations on certain things you must do to retain freedom and certain things you can do that will cost you your freedom immediately. Freedom that is offered to everyone can be taken away if you choose to not play by the rules and we find out in the parable of the unforgiving servant that mercy works the same way. The unforgiving servant was happy to receive mercy from his master for a debt that there was no way he could pay off but his unwillingness to forgive someone that owed him enraged his master. The master who was so willing to hand out mercy to someone who did not deserve it was just as quick to take back that mercy and render judgement instead. Just like your freedom in America is dependent upon your actions and behaviors so is your ability to receive mercy from God above.
In verse 35, we see that Jesus lays it out simply for everyone to understand, God’s mercy is offered to everyone but only those willing to give it to others will receive it. If I go out today and rob a bank, as soon as the police catch up to me my right to freedom will be revoked and I will be incarcerated. If I hold unforgiveness in my heart towards someone in this life, then God will revoke the mercy that is freely given to me. It does not matter how mean the person was to me, how much abuse they heaped upon me, or how much embarrassment they caused in my life; if I do not give forgiveness and mercy to them then I can not expect God to render it to me. We all look at the parable of the unforgiving servant and can plainly see the hypocrisy in his actions, but we tend to easily overlook the same hypocrisy in our lives. We love having our past mistakes wiped clean by God with no further questions asked but we just can not find it in our heart to do the same for someone who hurt us. God’s mercy is available for everyone to receive through the sacrifice and acceptance of His Son, Jesus Christ, but only those who offer mercy and grace to others will receive it.