Matthew 6:11
“Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.”
This month we look at God’s delight in being “our Forgiver”.
The word “forgive” has some interesting alternative meanings in the Greek. It can also translate as, “cancel, remit, let go of, leave behind, and divorce.”
The last possible definition of “forgive”, that is “divorce”, can reveal an effect of sin we may not always realize. “Sin”, ours and that of those who have “sinned against us”, can “wed” or “marry” itself to us. That may be why we find certain “sins” or “sins against us” so difficult to forgive; so difficult to find “release” from our heart, mind, soul or strength.
Maybe that is why we so desperately need God’s Holy and Supernatural power to attain true forgiveness. Maybe that is why forgiving and being forgiven can become something so precious and holy before God… or with those who are “our debtors.”
When we pray in this manner, we are allowing God to restore both the holiness and wholeness of our relationship with “Our Father who is in heaven”; and we are also giving God a chance to set us free from the ways we are joined in “un-wholly and unholy” wedlock to sin.
When you pray, don’t miss the incredible opportunity to be able to “leave behind” and “let go of” that which keeps you from wholeness and holiness in life.
As the Apostle Paul says in Galatians 5:1, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”
“Forgiveness” is a great way to pray. “Forgiveness” is a great gift to give and to receive.
Sincerely Yours in Christ,
Pastor Denny