Week 3, day 4: Being forgiven, knowing how to forgive.

“And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” (NIV)

“Forgive us the wrongs we have done, as we forgive the wrongs that others have done to us.” (Good News)

Dan Green writes:

Forgiveness is a topic that seems to keep popping up in our family (or perhaps more accurately, the ongoing need for it does!) so our discussion about this part of the Lord’s prayer threw up all kinds of questions… Is forgiving the same as forgetting? Can we forgive someone if they don’t apologise or say sorry? And can we forgive if we haven’t experienced forgiveness ourselves?

We talked about how difficult it must be to forgive if you’ve never received forgiveness yourself, from God or from others. Somehow the two are linked, which might be why Jesus instructed us to pray in this specific way. Similarly, it probably doesn’t make much sense to just be on the receiving end of forgiveness without also extending forgiveness to others. Again, the two seem to be very much connected.

We also agreed (in between our servings of macaroni cheese and glasses of blackcurrant squash) that forgiveness doesn’t just benefit the person who’s receiving it, but the person who is choosing to forgive as well. We know what it feels like to be upset with each other and to hold on to the frustration and resentment that can build up inside, and we know what it feels like to be free of those emotions once things have been talked about and we’ve chosen to forgive each other. Although it normally doesn’t feel easy to forgive, we’re so glad when we have done!

Our prayer today is that each of us would be fully aware of God’s forgiveness for us, and that we’d have the courage and strength to forgive even when it feels difficult.