Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us

Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us

After we’ve asked the Father to provide for our needs, we go on to ask for pardon: “Forgive us our sins”. “Forgive” follows “give”. The two petitions are linked by Jesus, “give us today our daily bread” with “forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us”. By linking them we recognize our need for pardon when we think of our need for food. Also, as we confess our own guilt, we bring to mind our relationships with other people too.

Augustine called this request, “the terrible petition”. If we pray, “Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us” while at the same time harbouring an unforgiving spirit, we are actually asking God not to forgive us.

You are part of the forgiven fellowship if you honestly know God as your Father. Sometimes it’s hard to forgive some particularly damaging thing done to you. But the sins we do against God, which we ask forgiveness for, make others’ offences against us much more trivial.

How can we ask God to forgive us, when we refuse to forgive others? Our forgiveness of others doesn’t cause God to forgive us. Rather, it is eveidence that we, ourselves, have entered into God’s forgiveness. Those who live in the relief of God’s pardon find it easier to forgive those who offend them.

It’s said that, “to sin is human, to forgive divine”. We’re never closer to God’s grace than when we admit our sin and cry out for pardon. And we’re never more like God than when, for Jesus Christ’s sake, we extend forgiveness freely and completely to those who have sinned against us.

This is the seventh post in a series offering a reflection based on each of the clauses of the Lord’s Prayer