Just Let It Go
Continuing through the Lord’s Prayer this week, we are discussing, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” This is how we say it in our church on Sunday mornings, though different words are sometimes used in place of trespasses. Two common alternatives are debts and sins. The root word in Greek is opheilō.
Debt is the word found in Matthew’s version of the Lord’s Prayer. But right after the prayer, Jesus tells us that if we “forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive yours.”
The point is clear: we should forgive people the way God forgives us.
To reinforce this point, in Matthew 18:21-35, Peter asks Jesus how many times we should forgive someone. Jesus tells him to not get hung up on the number, but instead to forgive the way God does. He explains this with a parable about what Heaven is like.
A king was settling accounts with his servants. One servant owed him ten thousand talents and was unable to pay the debt. The king ordered that the servant and his family be sold to repay the debt. The servant begged for forgiveness, and the king had compassion on him and forgave the debt completely.
But then the same servant went and found a fellow servant who owed him money. The man begged for forgiveness, but the first servant refused and had him put in prison.
When the king heard about this, he had unforgiving servant brought to him and told him, “I forgave all your debt because you begged me. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had on you?’ (Verses 32-33)
The king then had him thrown in jail and tortured. Jesus went on to say:
“That is how My heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.”
When someone wrongs us, forgiveness can be hard. But this is what God calls us to do. Forgiveness doesn’t mean the wrong never happened. It just means we’re no longer living our lives focused on it.
I’ve shared before in these posts about The Traveler’s Gift by Andy Andrews. One of the decisions from the book is The Compassionate Decision, I Will Greet This Day with a Forgiving Spirit.
The explanation of this decision is a great example of why forgiveness matters and who we should forgive.
“Too often forgiveness is locked away, hidden from view, waiting for us to bestow this gift upon some worthy person. We find most people to be unworthy of our valuable forgiveness. Since they never ask for it we keep it all for ourselves. That forgiveness that we’ve hoarded then sprouts like a crippled seed yielding bitter fruit.
“Forgiveness only has value when it’s given away. By the simple act of granting forgiveness, we release the demons of the past which we can do nothing about and create a new heart.
“Many times, we have seethed in anger over a word or a deed thrown into our lives by an unthinking or uncaring person. Valuable hours have been wasted imagining revenge. The rage is often one-sided, for the offender seldom gives thought to their offense.
“By the act of forgiving, we’re no longer consumed by unproductive thoughts. Our bitterness is given up, and we find contentment in our souls and can be effective with others.
“I will forgive myself. For many years my greatest enemy has been myself. Every mistake, every miscalculation, every stumble I made has been replayed over and over in my mind. Every broken promise, every day wasted, every goal not reached has compounded the disgust I feel for the lack of achievement in my life.
“It is impossible to fight an enemy living in my head. By forgiving myself, I erase the doubts, fears, and frustration that has kept me living in the past. From this day forward, my history will cease to control my destiny. I have forgiven myself.”
Am I willing to accept God’s forgiveness? Am I willing to forgive myself? Am I willing to forgive others?
Forgiveness isn’t easy, but it’s freeing. It’s the difference between Heaven and Hell.
