Mat 6:12 And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors
Forgiveness is ceasing to feel resentment or anger for a perceived offense or mistake, and ceasing to demand punishment or restitution.
We know not forgiveness until we have been forgiven that is why we first pray, Mat 6:12 “And forgive us our debts, …” How many times should we forgive Peter asked, Jesus told of a story of a king in Mat 18:23- who had account to settle with his debtors. One servant owed him 10K talents equivalent to $10Million Dollars roughly today. Back then, 1 talent was a monetary unit worth about 20 years’ wages for a laborer. An average person could only make 4 talents in 80 years (the servant owed 10K). “But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made” (Mat 18:25).
The Lord told us his debt and the cost to satisfy it. Today we want to tell people their debts are paid before they understand what their debt is and the cost. Rom 6:23 reads, “for the wages of sin is death…”, That is what it takes to satisfy the demands of the law broken.
Mat 18:26-27 “26 The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, ‘Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ 27 Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt”. In this man’s condition of hopelessness, the master did three things that took care of the matter, 1. he had compassion on him 2. he released him 3. he forgave him of his debts.
To understand the magnitude of the debt of sin we’ve been forgiven, we have to look to the cross where God poured His wrath destined to us on His Son. DL Moody said, “To create God only had to speak, to REDEEM, Christ had to SUFFER”, that is what it took to make things right (Isa 53:5, Heb 9:22). With this understanding of debt, cost and sacrifice in praying, “Forgive us our debts…” (Vertical) we can Pray “…we forgive our debtors (Horizontal)”