New Evangelizers Post: The Lord's Prayer Pt 6 - Mercy and Forgiveness

I have a new article up at NewEvangelizers.com.  

“Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

Most of us would readily acknowledge that we need the forgiveness of the Lord. I know that the older I get, I can see the scales of justice in my life tip heavily towards all of the sin I have accumulated. So it is necessary for us to turn to God to seek forgiveness. This is why Christ came into the world and died on the cross. Jesus said at the Last Supper when He took the chalice: “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins “(Matt 26:28). Jesus wants to forgive us.

But when we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we not only ask Jesus for forgiveness. We give Him permission to limit His forgiveness.

All of us want to be forgiven unconditionally. When we screw up, we want a complete reconciliation to occur and let bygones be bygones. We would burn with shame should someone bring up the past transgression. We would like to see disappear from everyone’s view in the rear-view mirror of life. We want our relationship with God to be completely restored as if the sin never happened. And that is what Christ offers to us by His sacrifice. He holds nothing back.

But in the Lord’s Prayer, we tell God to forgive us only as much as we forgive the people who hurt us.

You can read the entire article here.