Matthew 6:12 -- Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.
In one of my favorite hymns, the first
line is “Lord, I want to be a Christian in my heart,” and the fourth line is
“Lord, I want to be like Jesus in my heart.” Those are both wonderful thoughts
and I do very much want to do that, but without help and guidance, we may not
know how to do that.
The wonderful news for us is that in the
Four Gospels, Jesus told us many times how we may be like him and be more
Christian in our daily life.
One very important, if not the most
important, way to do that (one that Jesus talked about many times with his
followers) is forgiveness.
Jewish law required that they forgive a
person three times. In Matthew, when Peter bragged that he would forgive not
three times but seven, Jesus said to him “not seven times but seventy times
seven.” Poor Peter must have been dumbfounded, but I do not think that Jesus
meant 490 times literally; I think that he meant an infinite number of times,
or as many as it takes.
Some other times are as follows: from
Luke 6:37: “Forgive others and you will be forgiven;” from Matthew 6:12:
“Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us;” and of
course from the cross in Luke 23:34: “Forgive them Father for they know not
what they do.”
Others may not even know that we offer
them forgiveness. They may not even still be here on planet Earth. That is
alright, because we offer forgiveness for our freedom, to free our heart and
our soul from the darkness that comes from not being willing to forgive. It
certainly does not mean that we think their actions were acceptable, simply
that we are no longer willing to carry that burden.
Fortunately for me, I do not have to worry
that my human self is not able to forgive or even knows how to forgive. I do
have to be willing to forgive, ask God’s help, and let God’s love work through
me to forgive all past hurts.
Thought for today: I am willing to forgive
anyone I feel may have harmed me.
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