Forgive Us Our Tresspasses

“…forgive us our trespasses, ​as we forgive those who trespass against us.” Matthew 6:12

I know that having a huge credit card debt can be such a heavy burden. Imagine the debt being erased by the credit card company just by the signature of the President of the bank! Whew! What a relief! In Matthew chapter 18, Jesus compared the Kingdom of heaven to a king who decided to bring his accounts up to date. In the accounting, it was discovered that a servant owed him millions! Obviously the servant bowing low and pleading before the king would have no means of repaying such a colossal amount. The King took pity and forgave him his debt! 

This same servant, instead of being grateful and understanding, went to a fellow servant who owed him a hundred days wages. He grabbed him by the throat, and demanded instant payment, even if the man was pleading and asking for more time. He had the man arrested and thrown in jail. What did the king do when he heard about it? He got angry and threw the first servant in jail. “Shouldn’t you have shown mercy to your fellow servant just as I had mercy on you?” the king asked. 

Are there people we have not forgiven? Is there someone we resent for his or her actions or words that we cannot forget? Marianne Williamson, a teacher and author, says that unforgiveness is like drinking poison ourselves and waiting for the other person to die! 

Let us rid ourself of any poison of bitterness, anger and resentment. Hard? Yes! Impossible? No. By God’s grace Corrie Ten Boom put out her reluctant hand to forgive the Nazi guard when he came to ask her forgiveness. She remembered walking naked past this same man in his uniform with a leather crop hanging from his belt in Ravensbrück Concentration Camp. She remembered how thin they all were, her sister Betsie in front of her in a line of naked women. And there he was again, in front of her, asking forgiveness. Only by God’s grace was Corrie Ten Boom able to hold up her hand to shake the former guard’s hand. Only by God’s grace will we be able to forgive as God has forgiven us our many sins!