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Paul summarizes the Good News of Easter with this verse
of scripture. Jesus came into the world to save sinners,
and no sinner is beyond His saving power. Jesus didn’t
come merely to show us a better life or to challenge us
to be better people. He came to offer you salvation that
leads to eternal life.
We receive this salvation when we
“Bear with each other,
and forgive one another....
even as Christ forgave you.”
Colossians 3:13
There isn’t a person in the room who does not want to be
forgiven. Can the same be said about wanting to forgive?
Human nature is that when we do something wrong we want
forgiveness, but when we are the person who is wronged
we want justice.
In the book Praying the Lord’s Prayer for Spiritual
Break Through Elmer Town’s tells a story about a little
boy practicing his aim with his sling shot at his
grandmother’s farm. When he was called into dinner he
was zero for everything. He hadn’t been able to hit
anything he aimed at. On his way to the house he took
aim at his grandmother’s pet duck. Guess what? He was no
longer zero for everything. He hit the duck in the head
and the duck fell over dead.
He looked around to see if anyone had seen what he had
done. Thinking no one saw him he quickly buried the
duck.
After dinner his grandmother asked his sister if she
would help clean up the table. She volunteered her
brother whispering in his ear ‘Remember the duck.’
For the next several days when ever John’s sister wanted
him to do one of her chores she would simply whisper
‘Remember the duck.’
John was not very happy about doing the all the chores,
but what was really bothering him was the guilt he was
feeling.
He finally confessed. His grandmother replied. “I know.
I was looking out the window and saw you hit the duck. I
could see from the fear in your face that you didn’t
mean to do it. I forgave you the moment you did it.”
That is how God forgives you but is that how you
forgive?
Forgive us our debts,
as we forgive our debtors
Scripture is very clear that
“we all sin and fall short
of the glory of God.”
We have all done something bad or wrong and tried to
hide the truth? We have all tried to sneak behind our
parents back and to do something we were told not do to?
When we do this what suffers is not our relationship
with our parents, but our fellowship.
This is also true with regards to our relationship with
God. We have all disobeyed Him, ignored Him, rebelled
against Him and at times showed contempt for his law.
When we do the results are no different than we neglect,
ignore or disobey our parents. Our parent child
relationship does not change but our fellowship with
them is negatively impacted.
When we pray
“Forgive us our debts,
as we forgive our
debtors”
we are asking God to restore our fellowship,
not our relationship. You are saying “I’m sorry” to your
heavenly Father so you can have fellowship again.
Perhaps you are familiar with the story of the prodigal
son who demanded his inheritance from his father. He
took his inheritance and lost it all on frivolous and
sinful living. Along with the money he lost, he lost his
self respect. Sin usually leads to guilt and guilt
produces doubt, anxiety, stress, and in extreme cases
neuroses and phobias. The prodigal son’s life stunk more
than the pig sty he was working in. He realized that he
had sins against his father and God. He decided he would
return home and beg for forgiveness. When his father saw
him coming he ran to him and restored his fellowship as
well as his self respect.
When you pray Forgive us our debts we are beginning our
journey home. Forgive us our debts prayed sincerely must
be followed with an outward change or a determination to
change. What you mean in your heart will change your
actions.
Forgive us our debts,
as we forgive our debtors
Forgiveness is like a ticket. Theatre tickets, tickets
to movies and sporting events have two parts to them.
The one section of the ticket is torn off when you enter
the arena. The other section you keep because it has
your seat number and it proves you had paid for your
seat. If for some chance you lost one of the sections
before you got to the arena, your ticket was null and
void.
Think of forgiveness in these terms. When you confessed
your faith in Christ your sins were forgiven. Your faith
in Jesus is your ticket to forgiveness. It has two
parts. You are forgiven and you are to forgive. The
second part of your ticket, forgiving our debtors cannot
be separated from the first.
When you pray Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our
debtors you immediately bring other people into the
relationship with you and God the Father. You are asking
God to forgive your sins as you forgive the sins of
others.
Does this mean that when you say, “I forgive that person
but I never want to speak to them again.” You are
telling God to forgive you but He should never speak to
you again.
What are you telling God when you say, “I can never
forgive that person?”
Jesus said,
“If you forgive men their trespasses,
your
heavenly Father will also forgive you:
but if you do not
forgive men for
their trespasses,
neither will your
Father
forgive you your trespasses."
Jesus is not suggesting we forgive. He is not
encouraging us to forgive. He is commanding us to
forgive. The key to forgiving others is remembering how
much God has forgiven you.
Think of it this way.
A grandfather gives his grandson a piece of candy,
because that is what grandparents do. The parents tell
their son to say, “Thank You.” He promptly says, “NO!”
His parents a second time tell their son to tell
Grandpa, “Thank you!” A second time he says, “NO!” This
time the parents say, “You can’t eat that candy until
you say thank you.” Defiantly he begins to raise the
candy to his mouth. The boy’s father clenches his son’s
hand and holds it tightly. The father sternly repeats
himself, “Say Thank you!” The boy with tears welling up
in his eyes says, “Thank you, Grandpa.” Dad lets go of
his son’s hand.
The chocolate candy that was in the grandson’s hand has
become a chocolate mess. How many relationships have you
messed up because you would let go of some grievance,
some insult, some hurtful act, etc. What pain, stress
and anguish you could be spared had you only said, “I
forgive you.”
Like the grandson’s unwillingness to say thank you made
a mess. We make messes of relationships when we refuse
to express our gratitude to Jesus for forgiving our
debts by forgiving our debtors. Every time you fail to
forgive you crucify Christ, again.
Jesus said,
“If you forgive men their trespasses,
your
heavenly Father will also forgive you:
but if you do not
forgive men for
their trespasses,
neither will your
Father
forgive you your trespasses."
You can experience the power and the victory of the
resurrection right now, by remembering how much God has
forgiven you and by returning the undeserved favor by
forgiving another.
What relationship in your life is in need of the
resurrection? Easter is about new life.
“Bear with each other,
and forgive one another....
even as Christ forgave you.”
Colossians 3:13
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