Forgive Us Our Debts

David was both a highly respected king and a profoundly repentant sinner. He told the Lord, “Forgive my hidden faults. Keep your servant also from willful sins” (Psalm 19:12-13, New International Version).

If we take those requests to heart, they provoke honest self-evaluation. Do we seek God’s forgiveness—both for sins we have willfully committed and for hidden faults that are hard for us to see? And do we extend forgiveness to others, whether they intentionally did something wrong or they sinned without even realizing it?

Grievances Get Us Nowhere

By praying, “forgive us our debts” (Matthew 6:12), we participate in a grand redemption story woven throughout the Bible.

We shouldn’t take these biblical promises for granted. What if our debts (or

“trespasses”) couldn’t be forgiven? What if we bore them forever—always guilty and burdened, never relieved and released?

And what about the second part of Matthew 6:12, which says, “as we also have forgiven our debtors”? If someone hurts you, do you want to get even? Do you find the rule, “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,” more appealing than turning the other cheek? Immediately after the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus added this challenging condition: “For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins” (vv. 14-15).

Let Go of Grudges

Unresolved resentment leads to bitterness and misery. Living with unforgiven sin is like driving a car with the emergency brake engaged, or hiking up a mountain with a ball and chain attached to your leg. George Herbert said, “He who cannot forgive others destroys the bridge over which he himself must pass.”

Forgiveness is a choice, not a feeling—an act of the will, not an emotion. Jesus said, “And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins” (Mark 11:25). By showing mercy to others, we discover what Lewis Smedes wisely observed: “To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you.”

Next Week: Lead Us Not into Temptation