How to Forgive When It Seems Impossible Prøve

Forgive and Be Forgiven The disciples asked Jesus how to pray. His answer was to give them a pattern that would form the basis of all our prayers. We call it the Lord’s Prayer (see Matthew 6:9–13; Luke 11:1–4). All who believe in God want to know that their sins are forgiven. They do not want their unforgiven sins to remain on God’s slate for eternity and create a barrier between them and God. Therefore, it would have been a relief to the disciples to hear Jesus include within the Lord’s Prayer the phrase that began, “Forgive us our debts” (Matthew 6:12). Just as human relationships are damaged when we trespass on someone else’s property, our relationship with God is damaged when we trespass spiritually. Our conscience is affected, and we know we have done wrong. Deep inside we long for relational restoration. To deal with the situation, we need to face up to our pride and come back to God humbly. Humility is the gateway to God’s grace. The Lord’s Prayer brings us to this point of asking God for forgiveness. We find, however, that the next phrase contains some unwelcome and challenging words. Not only does it say, “Forgive us our debts,” but it also says, “as we also have forgiven our debtors” (Matthew 6:12). The disciples must have struggled with the idea of having to forgive others as well, for Jesus had to tell them again—and in very simple words: “If you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins” (Matthew 6:15). If we want to know the continuous blessing of God, then we have to forgive others continuously and quickly. Otherwise when we ask God to forgive us, we will be asking Him for something that we are not willing to give to others. We will become trapped by our own hypocrisy. There is no way that Jesus could have prayed the most powerful prayer on earth if He had not first come to the point of forgiving those who nailed Him to that piece of wood. He knew that forgiveness of others was an essential gateway to knowing the continuous blessing of God. This is what He taught His disciples to do time and time again. Forgiveness of sin is the greatest possible blessing that God makes available to His children. But if we are not willing to forgive others, we will miss out on God’s best for our lives.