Our Debts

Reference

Matthew 6:12

MESSAGE SUMMARY

How would you feel if someone gave you a gift that you could never repay?

This week we will be continuing to listen to Jesus teach us to pray in The Lord’s Prayer. We will focus on Jesus’ teaching us to pray for something that we could never repay but which will shape not only our relationship with God but our whole lives.

In The Lord’s Prayer and in the Gospels Jesus compares sin to a kind of debt. But how is sin like a debt? Central to understanding this is first knowing that sin is not essentially just about what we have done or not done. Sin is essentially about the ways that we negatively impact our relationships with God and others. Sin is like a debt that weighs down on our relationships, putting stress on the trust and bond between two people. For a relationship to remain healthy the strain caused by stress needs to be dealt with otherwise the relationship will eventually become toxic or break.

The good news of Jesus is that he not only offers us forgiveness from the sins of our past, but an ongoing forgiveness. Both Jesus, James, and John all confirm that forgiveness is not just a once and for all act, but forgiveness is something that we receive again and again.

When we recognize the incredible gift we have received it will change our lives. When Jesus makes a connection between receiving forgiveness and offering forgiveness, this connection is not a prerequisite but a response. Forgiving others is our response not our prerequisite to receiving forgiveness from God. It’s a gift we give to someone else but a gift we also receive as we too are set free by forgiving others.

Is there someone that you need to forgive? This week meditate on the incredible gift you have received and someone who you may need to forgive.