This post is the first in a series of studies about “Forgiveness”.

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Forgiveness – Day 1

Forgiveness is a major theme of the Bible. This verse, spoken by Jesus follows His teaching on how to pray when His disciples wanted to know more about praying as Jesus did. They recognised that Jesus was not just using words, but was in a real relationship with His Father.

Matthew 6:14-15

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.

The Thought

Having just finished a short study on the very short book of Philemon, we have seen that forgiveness was the main theme throughout that letter from Paul. In fact “forgiveness” is one of the main themes of the entire Bible. Today’s verse, spoken by Jesus follows His teaching on how to pray when His disciples wanted to know more about praying as Jesus did. They recognised that Jesus wasn’t just using words, but was in a real relationship with His Father God.

In that prayer, Jesus teaches us to ask Father God to forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors. The suggestion is that if we have come to The Lord in prayer, we have already forgiven anyone we need to. Other versions of that verse use the word “sins” or “offences” instead of debts. That is a big challenge for many today.

Forgiveness can be hard, especially when it is someone very close who has offended us, or wronged us. Too many marriages end with bitterness and unforgiveness. Too many family breakdowns result in both children and parents being permanently emotionally damaged.

Action

Pray today for any families you know where someone has experienced divorce, either themselves or their parents or siblings. Ask God to bring emotional healing as only He can.

Read Matthew 6 slowly today and ask The Lord to show you if there is any unforgiveness in your heart. Then ask Him to help you to forgive.

Note that forgiving doesn’t mean forgetting! It means that when you think of those past hurts, they don’t make you feel bitter or angry any more.

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