The Lord is our Provider. We learned this last time in Part Nine. Today’s lesson is a hard one and the basis of the series as it was first given to me, a bitter pill indeed but necessary to our lives as Christians:
“And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” (Matthew 6:12 NIV)
Here is the verse that smacked me in the face and sparked my decision to write a series about The Lord’s Prayer. As part of my daily prayer, I often include parts of The Lord’s Prayer. One particular day I used this phrase, forgive my debts, as I forgive my debtors.
I don’t imagine my experience is very different from most people except I might be a bit more stubborn and require God to go to greater lengths to get my attention. Sometimes He is gentle with me and sometimes, like in this case, He hits me with something that really opens my eyes and brings home the fact that I am not on the right track; I just think I am.
I have head knowledge of what this verse means, a passing acquaintance, if you will, but understanding is sometimes slow to catch up. However, this day as I said these words the meaning suddenly became clear — forgive my debts in the same proportion that I forgive my debtors.
This caused me some anguish, I have to say! This had big implications for me. I either have to be more forgiving or expect less forgiveness. Moreover, to please God, which I want to do, the answer really was that I had to become more forgiving and forgive in the manner that I expect to be forgiven, which is completely.
Lord, forgive us our debts and enable us to forgive our debtors completely. Amen.
Temptations we face are sometimes very great. In Part Eleven we will discuss this very issue of temptation and how to get victory.
Yours in Christ,
Sonya Richards
(To Access the rest of “The Lord’s Prayer” mini-series, please click here!)