You may be like me and remember your earliest prayers as those asking God for forgiveness. Jesus provided us with a model prayer opens the door to ask God for forgiveness.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors. (Matthew 6.12)
It is appropriate to view our sins and transgressions as a debt owed to God.
Although we owe God our utmost devotion and love, we often slip into serving ourselves rather than Him. Consequently, we have a debt that must be forgiven by Him.
The good news of this prayer is that God cancels all of our debts.
Imagine you owe the bank an enormous amount of money and have no way to repay it. Dreading the consequences, you go to the bank to confess that you can’t pay.
But to your surprise, the bank manager tells you your debt has been forgiven! They’ve wiped it clean.
That’s what God’s forgiveness is like. We all carry the burden of sin, a debt we can’t possibly repay on our own. But through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, God offers us forgiveness.
Our debt is erased, and we are free.
Trouble with Good News
The good news of forgiveness, both receiving it from God and extending it to others, can be surprisingly difficult to embrace.
Many struggle to believe God’s forgiveness could truly apply to them. They might think, “How could I have done such a thing as the horrible sin/sins I have committed?” This self-doubt is often rooted in pride.
Pride whispers, “I shouldn’t be capable of such actions.” But the truth is, we are all human. We all have the capacity to make mistakes, even terrible ones.
We are all fallible, which makes God’s forgiveness all the more profound.
For those who have a hard time receiving God’s forgiveness, I recommend that you take some time to meditate on the cross.
Read the Gospel account of the cross of Jesus or the prophecy about the cross in Isaiah 53. As you do, consider this: the cross is the solution to our problem.
When we see it that way, we know our problem is great, but God’s forgiveness is greater. There is no room for pride when we stand beneath the cross of our Savior.
Forgiving Great Offenses
Another issue with this prayer is having trouble forgiving others, particularly when we have been deeply harmed.
One of the Psalms ends with this invective against Israel’s enemies.
Happy shall they be who take your little ones
and dash them against the rock! (Psalm 137.9)
C.S. Lewis is correct in his response to the question, “How can we pray like this?” He describes the immense pain inflicted upon God’s people, who then expressed a strong desire for revenge.
While those who oppress and horribly afflict others bear tremendous responsibility for their actions, Jesus teaches that the victims should still forgive them.
Why and how can this be? Here are a few answers.
(1) I recommend to people who have been horribly hurt to at least begin the process of forgiveness by saying to the Lord, “God, I don’t want to forgive. I know you want me to forgive, please help me to forgive.”
This is a good place to start and I am convinced that God will honor the effort.
(2) Some people need to hear this truth concerning forgiveness. When we shut a door, not only do we shut someone out, but we also shut ourselves in.
God wants us to forgive because forgiveness is like putting a key in the lock and opening the door. We free ourselves from the locked room of forgiveness as well as letting the other person into some level of a relationship with us.
While saying this, I’ll remind you of words from one of my seminary professors. Just because you forgive doesn’t mean you need to give someone your wallet or allow them to get close to your spouse.
(3) This prayer is just one example of Jesus’ teachings on forgiveness. He understands the difficulty of forgiving others, but also its profound importance.
Consider the wars currently ravaging our world. They are a stark reminder of the consequences of unforgiveness. Hatred not only costs countless lives, but also devastates economies.
Early Christian teaching recommended praying the Lord’s Prayer three times every day. We need every one of the petitions in the Lord’s Prayer to impact us multiple times each day.
It may be if we’re struggling with forgiveness, we particularly need to be reminded frequently each day of our need for forgiveness, both to receive it and to give it.
YouTube Discussion
Rudy Ross and I discussed this passage on YouTube today. It is on the Bob Spradling channel.
Real Voices 