Forgiveness - 18 June 2009

Pray, therefore, like this: Our Father Who is in heaven, hallowed (kept holy) be Your name.  Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread.  And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven (left, remitted, and let go of the debts, and have given up resentment against) our debtors.  And lead (bring) us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.  For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
Matthew 6:9-13 [Amplified Bible]

And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven (left, remitted, and let go of the debts, and have given up resentment against) our debtors…

I have quite recently learned how to forgive.  I used to think I knew how to forgive but really I was just trying to forget.  Forgiveness is an act of will; we make a decision that we are not going to hold a person’s sins against them.  We let go of any resentments we have and understand the reasons we had them and what part we played in the process.  We decide that what that person has done is not going to affect us any more.  It is as if they had never committed the sin.

When I come to this part of the prayer I know that there are three things I will have to do. 

I will have to ask God to forgive the ways that I have wandered out of His will and that means figuring out why I did that so that with God’s help I can learn to live more in His will.
I will have to forgive myself for those things too, which will restore my self esteem.                                                                                                            

And I will have to forgive the people that I feel have trampled all over my own private ground. 

If I can’t do that I try to be honest about it and have found it helpful to ask God to bring me into a place where I can.  However very often these days I just cut to the chase and say the words, ignoring my feelings and making that mental decision that I am going to forgive, I often find my feelings will catch up later.  I might have to go back to step one and ask God to forgive and remove my resentment, anger and resentment are sins however they are provoked.

Forgiveness is an adventure, who knows where it might lead you.

Thank you God for your forgiveness.  Help us to move beyond our hurt and make the healing choice to forgive.  May your love warm our hearts so that we can reclaim the freedom and peace that come with forgiveness. Amen