A weekday morning devotional series written by Aaron Marcarelli and hosted by Chad McBeam
“Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father, who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. ‘ Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. ‘Give us this day our daily bread. ‘And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. ‘And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. ’
For if you forgive other people for their offenses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive other people, then your Father will not forgive your offenses.”
Matthew 6:9-15 NASB2020
Let us review. Jesus said as we pray we should praise, honor and glorify Him always for He is worthy of praise. We should seek to do His will. We should trust Him to provide for our needs because He will never leave us or forsake us. Jesus now talks about forgiveness. He does this through the words of the prayer but also after the prayer He takes time to reiterate this forgiveness point.
Whether your version of the Bible uses the word debt, trespass or sin Jesus is making the same point. That point is about forgiveness. Jesus makes this point very clear, we must forgive. Jesus died a brutal death on the cross so that every single one of our sins: past, present and future would be forgiven. He wipes the slate clean. With His blood we are forgiven forever. If we harbor unforgiveness in our hearts we make a mockery of the cross. I’ve also heard people say “I can forgive, but I’m not forgetting” that’s not forgiveness, that kind of thought still holds bitterness and fosters an unforgiving spirit. Imagine if Jesus said that to us? Would we feel forgiven? If we are saying this to anyone or have an unforgiving spirit with anyone we are the one who is sinning and Jesus says clearly we won’t be forgiven if we do not forgive.
This is difficult. But we must let God take care of the justice, we are called to forgive. Again, and again and again. How many times? “Then Peter came up and said to Him, “Lord, how many times shall my brother sin against me and I still forgive him? Up to seven times?” Jesus *said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven times.”
Matthew 18:21-22 NASB2020
So 490 times. If we are to keep no record of wrongs through our forgiveness, how will we know when we get to 490? Therefore, the point Jesus is making is we are to forgive others until the end of the age! Because that is what He did for us through His death on the cross. We are forgiven forever, we must do the same for that is what He calls us to do!
Lord we praise and honor and love you with all our heart, mind, soul and strength. We thank you for your provisions and answered prayers. We humbly thank you for the remission of our sin. Help us to forgive others. Help us to let our resentment and pain go and we leave all that at the foot of the cross. Lord we thank for taking all that pain and hurt away. Help us to continue to trust in you with all we are. We pray this is Jesus name Amen!
Shalom Blessings and Press in And Press On!