"Our Father"Sample

Jesus teaches us to pray for our relationships with others using these words: “Forgive us our debts as we have forgiven our debtors." The words ‘debts’ and ‘debtors’ paint a picture of money owed and owing money.

Some translations use the word "trespass," which brings the image of going somewhere you’re not supposed to go. Both owing a debt and trespassing can result in punishment.

Jesus did not say to pray like this: “Let me off the hook easy.” Instead, he raised the bar of forgiveness. He said that if you want to be forgiven of your debt, you must forgive those indebted to you.

This isn't natural or easy for us.

We want to be made right with God but usually don’t want to make things right with those who have wronged us.

When someone has truly hurt us, it takes God changing our hearts for us to forgive.

As we go through life, Jesus wants us to experience forgiveness from God and for others.

As God forgives us, we will learn to be more forgiving toward others.

TO THINK ABOUT

Have you ever had a financial debt forgiven? How did you respond?

When have you had a hard time forgiving someone?

How can you move from believing God forgives people in general to forgiving a specific person in your life?