Forgive Us As We Forgive

¹“And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” (Matthew 6:12). Our Heavenly Father forgives us when we repent because He loves us and He knows that we are weak and prone to foolish or selfish decisions but He nevertheless believes in us and is willing to give us as many chances as we need to get it right. But there is another very important reason why He forgives us. He is leading by example. He forgives us to show us that it’s possible for us to forgive others. God knows us better than we know ourselves. He knows all of the lies and half truths and justifications that we try to cover ourselves with like fig leaves and He can see right through all of it. He knows when we have done things because we were being prideful or willful or cruel or vindictive. He sees all of it. And He forgives us anyway. If God can see the real us and find it in Himself to forgive us, can we not follow His example in forgiving others? I know it’s really hard when someone else has hurt us so badly to just let it go. But God had to sacrifice His only Begotten Son to give us the chance to be forgiven. We have hurt Him more than we can ever understand and still He forgives us. I hope that we will follow our Heavenly Father’s example and forgive others as He has forgiven us. The great news is that He has a lot of practice in forgiving those who don’t deserve it so He can help us when we find it difficult. Forgiveness is the beating heart of everything that God does and I know that every time we choose to forgive our debtors, we draw closer to God and become a little more like Him.