sober-minded

   When you pray as our Lord taught us to in Matthew 6, do you ever feel a slight cringing within at the ”forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us” section?  If  you’re giving much thought to what you’re saying there, you are probably aware that this is a scary way to pray. I’ve even heard people admit that they don’t say that part because they are so aware of the ramifications of what they are actually praying. 

When we pray this, we’re not asking God to ”forgive us our trespasses because we have forgiven those who trespass against us.” Rather, we’re asking Him to ”forgive us our trespasses in the same way we forgive those who trespass against us.” In other words, we’re asking God to use the same standard with us that we use with our brothers and sisters. (Now does it start to seem like a scary way to pray?) To make matters worse, not only did Jesus teach us to pray that way, but whether we pray it or not, it is the standard God will use. He makes that clear when He says a few verses later, “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses” (Matthew 6:14). 

Wow. I thought that once I became a Christian, all my sins are automatically forgiven. But here I’m told that my refusal to forgive the one who has insulted, snubbed, or otherwise offended me will result in God not forgiving me. Me, the injured party!

But it gets worse. Not only must I forgive, but it must be from the heart.  Matthew 18:35: “So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.” From the heart!! I begin to see what the Lord is getting at. Only one way is this possible–by the genuine, fervent, supernatural love of the Holy Spirit, the love God promises to pour into our hearts for one another if we will seek Him for it. We can’t forgive from the heart if we don’t love each other from the heart. And if we don’t love from the heart, we are told that we don’t belong to Him (1 John 2:10-11). That’s why Jesus says that if we don’t forgive from the heart His Father will not forgive us–only those who are bought by Jesus’ blood can love and forgive each other in this way.

I hear fellow Christians talk about why we should forgive each other and overlook offenses. “Oh, unforgiveness only hurts the one who’s holding the grudge,” they say.  “Unforgiveness makes you bitter. Healthier just to let it go.” But that’s not the reason the Bible gives us for why we should forgive. “If you don’t,” it tells us, “you won’t be forgiven.” This puts everything in its proper perspective. A God who is to be feared and obeyed; a blood-bought family that is to be loved and forgiven for Christ’s sake; and the honor and glory we bring to the One who loved us, forgiving us all our vile offense against His holy character. That is why we forgive. And that is why we need to go ahead and pray that section of the Lord’s Prayer… even though it is, by His design, a scary way to pray.

This entry was posted on Sunday, June 29th, 2008 at 23:09 and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.