Below as in Above: 5 Days in the Lord's PrayerSample

PARDON

Today, we’re looking at Matthew 6:12 and the idea of pardons, "forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors." We’ve all heard the term frenemy—where the enemy of your enemy is your friend. But, as God often does, He flips the script. As believers, we know that the friend of our enemy is our God. Jesus is the friend of sinners.

God wants to give forgiveness to you, and He wants forgiveness to flow through you—because He loves you and wants your soul to be well.

Matthew 6:12 begins with“forgive us our debts.” Different translations use debts, transgressions, or trespasses, but they all point to the same thing: sin. Trespasses may be the most culturally familiar—it’s the willful disobedience of doing what we want simply because we want to. Debt is the fine we incur because of trespassing. And since the price of sin is death, we desperately need forgiveness. The good news? Jesus has made a way for us to ask for it.

We need forgiveness in two ways: judicially and relationally. That’s why Jesus tells us to pray for it daily. Judicially, we have already been forgiven—once and for all—of every sin we have committed, are committing, and will commit. Through Jesus, we are justified, declared righteous, and seen by God just as if we had never sinned at all. This forgiveness is permanent. But we also need relational forgiveness, which is ongoing. It’s what restores harmony, balance, and beauty in our relationship with God. Nothing is hidden from Him, but what we refuse to confess cannot be healed. If you don’t know where you’ve missed the mark, ask Him. And when He reveals it, don’t resist—because you can’t be cleansed from what you refuse to part with.

Matthew 6:12 ends with a challenge: as we forgive those who have sinned against us. Jesus makes this conditional—if we want our sin forgiven, we have to forgive others. The forgiveness you withhold limits the cleansing you receive. Unforgiveness is dangerous.

So why do we withhold it?

One reason is spiritual amnesia—we forget that it took God’s forgiveness to make us His. We forget that He paid a debt we never could. Over time, as we grow in faith, we can start believing we had something to do with our salvation. We hold others to a higher standard while forgetting that we, too, were once lost when grace found us.

Another reason? Selfishness. We demand justice for others but grace for ourselves. When someone wrongs us, we assume the worst about their motives. But when we wrong someone? It was just a mistake. C.S. Lewis put it this way: “We accept our excuses far too easily and others' excuses not easily enough.”

But here’s the truth: when a forgiving spirit is in you, your enemies lose their power over you. Holding a grudge feels like winning, but if you’re constantly thinking about it, it still has control over you. Forgiving someone doesn’t mean reconciliation will happen or that trust will be restored. But it does mean you can move forward without hatred.

After all, we are imitators of the One who died begging for the forgiveness of those murdering Him.

Prayer

Lord, thank You for giving me permission to ask not only for the forgiveness of my sins but also for the strength to forgive others as You have forgiven me. Reveal where I have missed the mark and give me the courage to confess. I want every light turned on in our relationship. If I’m holding a grudge against anyone You created in Your image, forgive me for gripping onto it. I release them now—I refuse to let them have power over me. Thank You for Your victory and for making me more than a conqueror.