Like a bottle of whiskey, a moment of illicit pleasure, or any other vehicle of sin, credit cards (debt) promise the benefit before the payment. Pretty much all sin looks attractive and feels good in the moment. We are attracted to and tempted by the good without fully comprehending the cost, until it is too late.

Debt. Often too much to repay.

We owe many debts. Every selfish act, every act of our own will creates another ledger entry of debt against us. In the end, that ledger will be read and accounted for with our very life. The debt must and will be paid!

The answer? Jesus paid our debt! He owed no debt himself, was not worthy of the death He endured, so His death can be accounted for payment on our account. That is His free gift! He literally paid our debt so we don’t have to! He has the power to forgive our sin, because he paid the price!

BUT! Yes there is a “but”, His words here run deep! Forgive us our debt, “as we have already forgiven our debtors”! Has someone hurt you? Cheated you? Abused you? Then yes, they are who we must forgive, first.

We deceive ourselves if we think that somehow what was done to us is worse than what we have done to God. You are no more worthy of forgiveness than the person who has hurt you the most. If you were somehow more worthy, it would not be a free gift! You would have earned it! So no… Each of us is exactly as guilty as our neighbor, as that one who hurt you most.

“If you but are angry with your brother, you have committed murder in your heart”

If you believe Jesus, then this clause of the Lord’s prayer is heavy. You owe a debt, and are forgiven freely to the extent that you forgive those who hurt you most.

So stop now, call to mind the name of those who have truly hurt you. Take those names to heaven and ask for the heart to truly forgive them. This is between you, and Jesus. Ask Him to empower you to forgive as He forgives you. Ask Him to remove that hardness, that grudge, that debt you hold against another.

Forgiveness is a personal inward thing. It is release of the debt on your part. It is freedom from the hurt you carry. It does not justify the evil done, it erases the debt incurred and lets you move forward. It is a legal choice, a moment of decision, an act of will to forgive a debt, and it is good.

We are forgiven much, realizing that allows us to forgive others, as we are all the same. Refusing to forgive is an act of arrogance, of saying you are somehow better, more worthy. Forgiveness says we realize our own debts, we are the same.

Forgive today that one, the hardest one. It sets you free of the pain of the hurt, and opens the door to our own forgiveness. Do it now, because we are to ask our own forgiveness AFTER we have already forgiven all.