Thought for Today: “Life’s Scariest Prayer”

At the end of the prayer Jesus taught He said, “If you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” (Matthew 6:14-15)

Jesus directly ties the Father’s forgiveness of our sins with our forgiveness of others. Jesus is saying that if we want God to forgive us, we need to forgive others.

But it’s even greater than this.

Going back to Jesus’s prayer He also said, “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” (Matthew 6:12)

This is one of the scariest prayers that we could ever pray. What we’re asking God is to forgive us the same way we forgive others. It’s not where we’re asking God to forgive us because we’re forgiving others; rather it’s asking God to forgive us the same way or in the same manner that we’re forgiving others.

That’s why it’s a scary prayer, because we’re not all that good in forgiving others, and therefore we’re hindering God’s forgiveness of us. This is why we need to forgive with a heart filled with God’s forgiveness.