23/11/2022
“And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors – Matthew 6:12-NKJV.” Almost every born again believer knows or have heard of this verse of Scripture but we hear of many disputes among Christian families that are never resolved simply because the parties involved are unwilling to forgive each other. But if we carefully read this verse which is meant to be prayer to our heavenly Father, we will realize that we are asking our Father ‘not to forgive us our sins if we do not forgive the sins of others’. Growing up, my mother taught me forgiveness with just one sentence, “it’s nothing, just leave it to God”. It doesn’t matter how angry you become because somebody wronged or hurt you, she will tell you, “If you say you are a true Christian, then obey God in this one too and leave it to Him”.
This really helped me to maintain relationship with people who became of great help to me in the future.
The unfortunate issue is that our society today doesn’t value forgiveness. In fact, forgiveness is often seen as a sign of weakness, not strength. Our culture esteems vengeance and payback. We believe in the saying “Don’t get mad, get even” but I ask myself, what if God decides to get even with us the moment we hurt Him.
In what we know as The Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:12, the word debt in this verse could be better translated “sins.” In other words, forgive us our sins or our trespasses or our shortcomings or our resentments or the wrong we have done or what we owe to Him.
Contrary to what we may think, we don’t go through a day without sinning. Even if we might not break a commandment of God, we certainly fall short of a standard of God. We have sinful thoughts and attitudes. We commit sins of omission, failing to do good when we could have done it. The Bible says, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8).
We need to ask God every day to forgive us for our sins. And as we receive that forgiveness, we should also extend it to others. According to Jesus, our generous and constant forgiveness of others should be the natural result of our understanding of the forgiveness God has extended to us.
Simply put, forgiven people ought to be forgiving people. If we have been forgiven, then we must forgive others (Fathers, Mothers, sons, daughters, family members, friends, colleagues etc)
In Luke 23:34, we learn a great lesson from Jesus, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.”
If Jesus forgave those who nailed Him to the cross, and if God forgives you and me, how can you withhold your forgiveness from someone else? How can you withhold your forgiveness from yourself? If God says, “I forgive you,” then the only appropriate response is to say, “God, thank You. I don’t deserve it, but I accept it. And to express my gratitude, I, in turn, forgive that person who has sinned against me.”
We forgive others, not because they deserve it, but because Jesus deserves it. The only reason we have to forgive is that He commands us to, and our obedience gives us the opportunity to say to Him, “Thank You for forgiving me. I love You.”
My dear friend reading this today, we have a race to run and a life to live for God on this earth and that calls for everything we have to give and as written in Matthew 18:32-35, you and I have no moral right to hold up any grudge against anyone in this life. God bless you and give you more grace to live for Him…. AMEN!!
By: Christian Essel
“And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors – Matthew 6:12-NKJV.” Almost every born again believer knows or have heard of this verse of Scripture but we hear of many disputes among Christian families that are never resolved simply because the parties involved are unwilling to forgive ...
