Debt Forgiveness
Read Matthew 6:9-13
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
Jesus continued in his model prayer for us with petitions to God for daily sustenance. Since Jesus was both man and God, he knew our human needs, cravings, and longings. It is fair to say that he also knew how God would respond. Prayer is a way of asking God for things and for listening to his will. Good prayers present to God requests for specific needs. The Lord’s prayer suggest requests for daily provisions, forgiveness, and strength for resistance to temptation.
“Give us today our daily bread…”
“This day” in Greek means “today”. Also used in this verse is an extremely rare word, which is usually translated “daily,” the word epiousios. Jesus was making the point of immediacy. He wasn’t teaching us to pray asking for long term needs here, he was teaching us to ask God for needs for each day. D.A. Carson wrote, that “The prayer is for our needs, not our greeds. It is for one day at a time.” God, knows exactly what we need for our survival and health.
“It means, doesn’t it, all we need for the day – ‘things requisite and necessary as well for the body as for the soul.”
CS Lewis
There are different views of what our “daily bread” refers to. Some feel it’s referring to the Word of God, some believe it means Jesus himself, some believe it’s referring to Communion, and others attribute “daily bread” to mean daily bread — or dietary needs to live on. No matter which you believe, it’s important to know that God cares about all everyday things that are necessary to our Christian survival. We should pray about them.
“And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.”
Here, we are taught to ask forgiveness for our mistakes. To forgive means to let go of the blame for something done to us. It doesn’t mean to forget. God knows that we are not perfect. He understands that we hold grudges and play favorites. He knows that we’re not perfect and knows that we can’t forget wrongs done to us. What He really wants is for us to remit, release, let go of expecting punishment for the sins committed against us.
“For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
Jeremiah 31:34
God knows all. He knew us before we were born. He has counted every hair on our head. He knows everything we’ve done. In Jeremiah, He was telling the people of Israel that He would not hold their sins against them. If we still desire to exact punishment on people who sin against us, why would God release what we’ve done as well? For God to release us, we must release others.
There are different translations of this verse. Some say “debt”, some “trespass”, and others “sin”. In the context of Jesus’s life, they all refer to the same basic truth. He was referring to a cost or payment for our wrongdoing. The bigger point of this petition is that Jesus is teaching us to ask God to forgive us “AS” we forgive others.
There is a hot political topic of college loan forgiveness this election year. One side believes the college loans and their related debt are predatory, misleading, or unfair and should be fully wiped clean. The other side believes that the loans were entered into willingly and knowingly, therefore the debt is an expected consequence and needs to be paid. Debt isn’t good or bad by itself. Debt is unpleasant, but in today’s world it’s often necessary. Sin, on the other hand, is bad, unpleasant, unnecessary, but also needs to be paid for.
In Jesus Christ, our debt is paid. A man who lived a perfect life died for everything we’ve done. Holding onto trespasses against us makes us bitter. It poisons our bodies and minds. It’s truly unhealthy. Our sins killed our savior. But on the cross, he uttered his last words, “tetelestai“, which meant it is finished. The debt was paid. Can we do the same for each other?
Highlights:
- Do you ever pray for specific things for yourself, your friends, your family? When you ask God for your “daily bread”, what do you mean? Do you expect Him to deliver?
- Do you worry about today and tomorrow? Do you trust that God will deliver what you want or what you need?
- Have you asked God for forgiveness for your mistakes? Are there instances in your life when you were wronged that you still hold on to?
Key Applications:
- “Whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them” (Mark 11:24). Pray for what you need each day, right now. Believe.
- Many of us try to break free from the necessity of praying this prayer every day. We would rather horde our treasures and food so as not to worry about them in the future. That is not what Jesus is asking us to pray for in this prayer. We should pray to Him that He gives us all we need right now. But, it’s what we NEED not what we WANT. Pray about the difference.
- Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous focus on the power of forgiveness and letting go. They also center their healing pathways on “one day at a time.” Each day this week, let go of one thing someone has done to you. Either in person or just pray for them and let God know you have forgiven them.
Where else in your life can you live out the teachings of Christ? Look for next week’s Devotion.