As we continue to look at the Sermon on the Mount, we find the greatest of all the gifts in life tucked neatly in the prayer Jesus told His disciples to pray. It is a prayer that millions of Christ-followers have prayed routinely for 2000 years. Perhaps it is this familiarity of the prayer that allows us to innocently read and even quote it without personally comprehending the enormous importance of this phrase.

When we pray “Forgive us our debts, as we have also forgiven our debtors.” We pray our God will treat us as we have treated others. Jesus said, “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”

Anyone who has tried to forgive the sins of others can attest to the true glory and strength our God shows in his forgiveness. We can take the example of Jesus, and how he modeled forgiveness to apply to our own lives. Jesus took the initiative to offer forgiveness without being asked. He offered forgiveness without condition and accepted all the consequences for the cost of forgiveness. He forgives completely, leaving no balance due. Finally, Jesus forgets, freeing us from the burden of carrying our past sins into our lives today.

The hardest person to forgive may be yourself. By accepting the forgiveness Christ provides, you are free to start a new chapter in your life for the old you is gone and the new you has arrived.