We are all familiar with the Lord’s Prayer where it says, “as we forgive those who sin against us”. The questions I want to talk about is how big or how important is that? Why did our Lord tell us to do that? What happens in our lives when we forgive others? What happens to us if we don’t forgive others? Is it optional?

Lets start with the why. I’m not an expert and I can’t read God’s mind but I would say it has something to do with anger. If we harbor unforgiveness in our hearts we become angrier and angrier with that person and this eats away at us. Some people become consumed with anger, do you know someone like that?

When we forgive those who have wronged us that anger slowly goes away. It is kinda like ice, it melts away. And when that anger leaves us we are better people, more loving, kinder, gentler.

If we don’t forgive others their trespasses we become angry people. Harsh, intolerant, mean, lacking in compassion, unforgiving.

Is forgiving others an optional thing then? Can we skip this command and still be good Christians? The short answer is no, of course not. And I will explain why.

Go fetch your Bible and let’s look at some verses, and no, this is not a bible study. In Matthew 6:9-13 we have the Lord’s prayer, in vs.14 and 15 our Lord comments on this very important prayer, he says…

For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. NIV

So there you have it, it is not optional it is required of us. And it is a very difficult thing that our Lord is asking of us. The truth of the matter is we don’t want to forgive some people who have greatly offended us. And many of us Christians still harbor resentment towards some who have offended us.

Does that mean that if we don’t forgive others their sins, then our Father in heaven won’t forgive us our sins and we end up in hell forever? The short answer is yes, I guess. I don’t see any way out of this one. But I bet if you went to your pastor he would find a fine way to explain it away for you and assuage your fears, I know my pastor would,

 Lutherans are really good at that, he would say that is “law” and the law always accuses us but the gospel saves us. Sounds good to me but I just don’t buy it, i worry about my Lutheran brothers and sisters, they excuse away almost any kind of behavior by that matrix, so for them they don’t “have” to obey Christ sayings at all or any other command for that matter, it is just there to remind us how guilty we are and how much we are in need of forgiveness.

What is your take on these verses? Does it mean we are going to hell if we don’t forgive others their sins? You know the routine, write your comments below. I think it does, I don’t see any way around it. I don’t want to be on the wrong side of this issue, the stakes are too high.

I have some ideas on how to forgive those who have sinned against you, even if what they did it is very grievous to you. Whenever this person or event comes to mind say this prayer, “Lord I forgive this person his/her sins because I want so much for you to forgive me all my sins, in Jesus name, Amen”. That’s it.

Now when this event comes back again to your mind  say this prayer, “Lord thank you for forgiving this person his/her sins and thank you for forgiving me my sins”.

It might sound corny to you and it might go against your theology, I don’t give a crap about your theology, just use it, it works! You have to exercise your faith a little bit here.

Now if you have done that, don’t you feel better? Of course not! You feel pretty much the same as you did before you prayed. But here is the thing, we are not supposed to rely on our feelings, remember? So just go about your business and forgetaboutit, the bad feelings will go away slowly, like ice melting. God’s power is at work to give you the power to forgive, so forgive and go about your business. That is called putting your trust in Him. If you say you don’t have any faith you are lying to yourself, you have some faith even if it is just a very tiny little bit, so use it. I suspect your faith needs a little exercise, it will get stronger.

I think I will change the name of my blog to, “Jesus Christ, Raw and Unafraid”. He is such a bada** if you know what I mean.

Now may the Lord bless you and keep you, may he lift up his face upon you and be gracious to you, may he lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen