In Matthew 6:14-15, Jesus is speaking to the people and in the midst of that sermon he stated, “For if you forgive others their offenses, your heavenly Father will forgive you as well. But if you don’t forgive others, your Father will not forgive your offenses”
It sounds pretty severe which we’ve shared in other family time write-ups.
Just prior to this, Jesus is teaching the people how to pray. Something that may people ask once they come to know what Jesus did for them. It also appears in Luke when one of the disciples asks Jesus to teach them how to pray. and in that prayer Jesus says, “And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves also forgive everyone in debt to us (or wrongs us) – Luke 11:4, CSB.
It is not that Jesus has placed a condition on Him forgiving us, but rather stating that if we realize what God did for us, and are following Him, that we will forgive others as God forgives us. If there were conditions on receiving forgiveness from God, then Jesus would not have asked the Father to forgive while He was on the cross, and Jesus would not have told the one thief on the cross that he would be with Him in Paradise, in essence forgving him.
If we say we believe in Jesus, then we should forgive others as the Father forgave us. If we cannot forgive, then the love of God is not in us. It is not a condition for forgiveness, but an overflow of the Holy Spirit living in us.
Discussion Questions
- Is it good for us to put expectations on people before we forgive them? No, God did not put expectations on us.
- What helps us to forgive others? The Holy Spirit living in us
- What did Jesus do so we can have forgiveness? Jesus died on the cross for our sins
End in prayer asking God to help you forgive others.
