Day 19: Have Forgiven
Jesus prays, “Forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors.” This prayer is one that is neither easy nor is it convenient. We are challenged to join in this prayer because we live in a culture and world in which the majority of people want what best benefits them and them alone. Forgiveness sounds great as long as it is a gift for me that I do not have to extend it to those around me. As we saw yesterday, God’s grace and extension of forgiveness is not just covering, but empowering. This is a beautiful reminder that we have been not only empowered, but equipped to receive and give forgiveness.
When we join in this prayer of our Lord, we are asking to be aligned with His action toward those around us. This is difficult because it is so much easier for us act how we want to toward those around us. But when we join in praying this prayer, we are speaking out the reality that our feelings and thoughts don’t define us or dictate how we live. We are believing that God’s vision, action, and love for those around us is ultimately better than ours, and when we pray these two small words, we are declaring big actions in our lives.
This is not just a prayer for us to believe in God’s activity toward those around us, but to participate with Him in that activity. It is one thing to say we believe in God’s grace extended to all people, but it is another thing to practice that forgiveness to all people as well. It is interesting that this phrase, “as we also have forgiven” is in the past tense, as in it has been a completed action. This means that we are not only aligning ourselves with God’s completed actions, but we are living from those actions as a way to empower our present activities.
It is the beautiful reminder that even if we don’t think we have the strength to forgive in the past, present, or future, that it is from God’s past, present, and future activity that we pray, live, move, and have our being. As you pray this today, I encourage you to remember the Lord’s activity in the past toward you and how you can join in that activity toward those around you, because, ultimately, this is the best activity you can live from today. Amen.
Action: Make a list of those people in your life that you are avoiding, that you have been hurt by, that you don’t want to see again, that you do not want to forgive. Ask the Lord for His heart toward them. Ask Him about how He sees them, how He loves them, and how what He is doing in their lives right now. Ask the Lord how you can partner with Him in that activity, or how you can best bless that activity from where you are now. Simply ask, Holy Spirit, align me with your action toward those around me.
