Matt. 6:12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. (14) For if you forgive men their offenses, your heavenly Father will forgive you also; (15) But if you do not forgive men their offenses, neither will your Father forgive your offenses.
[Part 2 of 2] We have to ask God to forgive our debts as we have forgiven our debtors. If a person is mean toward other brothers and sisters and does not forget their offenses against him, he cannot ask God to forgive his debts. A narrow-minded person, who always pays attention to how others have offended, hurt, or ill-treated him, cannot pray such a prayer before God. A man must have a forgiving heart before he can boldly ask the Father: "Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors." Brothers and sisters, just as our offenses before God must be forgiven, so we also must forgive the offenses of others against us. We must first forgive the debts of others before we can pray boldly to the Father: "Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors." Here we have to pay attention to one thing: The Bible tells us not only about our relationship with the Father but also about our relationship with one another as brothers and sisters. If a brother only remembers his relationship with God and forgets his relationship with other brothers and sisters and presumes that there is nothing wrong between him and God, he is deceiving himself. Brothers and sisters, never overlook your relationship with the brothers and sisters. If there is a barrier between you and another brother or sister, you will immediately lose God's blessing. If you do not forget their debt and if you keep on counting and complaining, you are being grossly deceived if you think that God has forgiven your debts. The Lord clearly teaches us to pray: "Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors." Brothers and sisters, we must thoroughly forgive our debtors. Otherwise, it will affect our being forgiven before God.
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from "The Prayer Ministry of the Church" in the Collected Works of Watchman Nee, Vol. 22, pp. 170-171. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. Please visit us at www.emanna.com. Send comments to: [email protected].
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