Chapter 320—In Debt
Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
Matthew 6:12
.
A great blessing is here asked upon conditions. We ourselves state these
conditions. We ask that the mercy of God toward us may be measured by
the mercy which we extend to others. Christ declares that this is the rule
by which the Lord will deal with us: “If ye forgive men their trespasses,
your heavenly Father will also forgive you: but if ye forgive not men their
trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses” (
Matthew 6:14,
15
). Wonderful terms! but how little are they understood or heeded. One of
the most common sins, and one that is attended with most pernicious results,
is the indulgence of an unforgiving spirit. How many will cherish animosity
or revenge and then bow before God and ask to be forgiven as they forgive.
Surely they can have no true sense of the import of this prayer or they would
not dare take it upon their lips. We are dependent upon the pardoning mercy
of God every day and every hour; how then can we cherish bitterness and
malice toward our fellow sinners!
The fact that we are under so great obligation to Christ places us under
the most sacred obligation to those whom He died to redeem. We are to
manifest toward them the same sympathy, the same tender compassion and
unselfish love, which Christ has manifested toward us.
He who is unforgiving cuts off the very channel through which alone he
can receive mercy from God. We should not think that unless those who have
injured us confess the wrong we are justified in withholding from them our
forgiveness. It is their part, no doubt, to humble their hearts by repentance
and confession; but we are to have a spirit of compassion toward those who
have trespassed against us, whether or not they confess their faults. However
sorely they may have wounded us, we are not to cherish our grievances and
sympathize with ourselves over our injuries; but as we hope to be pardoned
for our offenses against God we are to pardon all who have done evil to us....
As we come to God, this is the condition which meets us at the threshold,
that, receiving mercy from Him, we yield ourselves to reveal His grace to
others.
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