Our Father, who art in heaven,
Hallowed be Thy name.
Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread,
And forgive us our debts
As we forgive our debtors;
And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil.

For Thine is the kingdom,
and the power,
and the glory
Forever.
Amen.

This memorable song comes directly from Matthew 6:9-13. Since my theme for the past couple days has been forgiveness, I want to focus on that part of the prayer today: “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” The two verses that immediately follow the Lord’s model prayer in Matthew also stress this theme:

Matthew 6:14-15 For 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.

Whoa! This is something to think about, isn’t it? What right have I to expect God to forgive all my sins and never remember them again if I will not do the same for those who have wronged me?

I’m not going to drag this out with a lengthy discussion, but for those of you who are taking the baby steps with me, let me just applaud you for another day of choosing to forgive and live forgiven. God bless you!

Photo taken in Milton, FL, 2017