Samuel D. High
sdhigh@aristotle.net
-----Original Message-----
From: Apostle Tom <pressingon@hotmail.com>
Sent: Sun, 10 Feb 2008 16:49:38 -0600
To: <pressingon@hotmail.com>
Subject: Morning Manna (Feb. 11); BP: Mt. 6:5-15; RBTTY: Mt. 26:1-25; Lev.
February 11 “On Forgiving Debts and Debtors”
“And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.”
Matthew 6:12
Failure to pray and mean this negates every other part of our prayer.
Forgiveness.
We talk much about it, usually in a quite lofty and spiritual way; however, do we really mean it? Today’s Manna is a hard-hitting one because, if the truth be known, other than pride, the #1 spiritual stronghold of sin in any church or life is that of “a bitter root and unforgiving spirit.”
The Greek word “opheilema” is used here for “debts” and also means “that which is owed, that which is justly or legally due, an offense, etc.” And, when we couple this verse with Jesus’ instruction about “forgiving men their trespasses” (vv.14-15), we realize He’s talking about more than someone owing us some money.
It’s one thing to erase a financial debt by saying, “Oh, forget it” and writing it off; it’s another thing to forgive someone who’s hurt us by their words or deeds, whether intentional or not.
Vicious verbs, nasty nouns and acrid adjectives/adverbs have a way of deeply wounding us. They sink down into our hearts and minds—and, unless we consciously and intentionally refuse to allow them lodging there, they’ll slowly begin to grow from a “seed of resentment” into a “root of bitterness” (Heb. 12:15).
While we may try to ignore the slights and move on, our flesh enjoys catering to them. Soon, those occasional remembrances of the hurts—and the one who inflicted them upon us—sour our thoughts and turn into a “stronghold of sin.” And, soon even hearing the person’s name will immediately remind us of the injustices we’ve suffered.
But, oh, dear Pilgrim, Jesus went on to say “If you forgive men their trespasses (Grk. ‘paratoma’—‘side-slip, unintentional or intentional transgression, fault, offense, etc.’), your Heavenly Father will also forgive you; but, if you don’t forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses” (vv.14-15).
Simply put, if we don’t forgive others, the Heavenly Father won’t forgive us!
Period. End of story. Take it to the bank. Why/how, then, can we justify harboring “ought” in our heart after reading these words? Why/how do we think the Heavenly Father’s going to approve when we say “Oh, I’ll forgive you—but I’ll never forget!” after He forgave us at
The bottom line of all of this is simply this: It’s impossible for the Heavenly Father to hear our prayers when we refuse to “forgive our debtors and their trespasses.” Unconfessed and unrepented of sins prevent us from communing with our Lord; therefore, may we ask the Holy Spirit to help us not rest until we’ve truly forgiven and sought reconciliation with those who’ve hurt us (Mt. 5:23-24).
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