Lent Day 21 Forgive us our Sins

Week 4 Lenten Devotions

Lent Day 21: Friday March 12

Theme for the Week: The Lord’s Prayer as a Way to Ask for Help

Passage for the Day: Matthew 6:12-14

¹² And forgive us our debts,

as we also have forgiven our debtors.

¹³ And do not bring us to the time of trial,

but rescue us from the evil one.

¹⁴ For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; ¹⁵ but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Reflection:

This particular part of Matthew’s version of the Lord’s prayer has a triple emphasis on our being able to forgive others. Why does Matthew place so much more importance on this very difficult topic? Matthew’s Gospel has a big emphasis on righteousness, and it is hard to be right with God when I am holding onto all sorts of grudges and anger toward people around me. Let’s face it, forgiving others is not particularly easy. It is not even easy to forgive little things—slights such as a friend forgetting your birthday, or not inviting you to a party, or neglecting to return a phone call. Sometimes it seems easier just to get mad and stay mad. If it is not easy to forgive little things, forgiving the big things seems to take super-human or divine help. How do you forgive someone who has truly wounded you? How do you forgive someone who has physically abused you or ruined your reputation by spreading false stories about you? The world of social networking provides many positive possibilities to connect with friends, but it also provides many temptations to spread hurt and shame. How do you forgive someone when you have been totally hurt? I think it takes a lot of prayer and help from God to forgive some big stuff. I have to ask God to soften my heart and help me realize that carrying around the burden of grudges, anger or hatred is not helping me. Forgiving someone really benefits me, because it releases me from all the ugliness. It may also lead the way to reconciliation, but that may not always happen. The forgiveness part only involves me resolving to put away all the negativity. The reconciliation involves both me and the person whom I think has harmed me.

Prayer Themes: Thank God for those who are willing to forgive me for the things that I have done wrong. Lord, help me today to put away my anger and ill will toward someone whom I think has wronged me. Lord release me from the burden of holding a grudge. Lord, help me attempts at reconciliation with someone from whom I am alienated. Pray for those who have difficulty forgiving.