Scripture for Today: Matthew 6:11-12 “Give us today our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we ourselves have forgiven our debtors.”

Only 12 percent of Americans believe they will die in debt (according to a phone interview done by Princeton).  This is actually down from 21 percent a year ago!  Perhaps we are less concerned about “keeping up with the Joneses.”  It is great we are feeling more optimistic but the Federal Reserve tells another story.  According to them, credit card debt has been steadily rising over the last five years and is now close to one trillion!

Today’s verse is a familiar one being part of the Lord’s Prayer.  We are all indebted to the Lord for forgiving our sins and erasing the payment for them.  He forgave sin at great cost to Himself on that cross.  He took on Himself the awful payment sin deserves.  We could never pay it ourselves and if not for Him, would still carry the heavy burden of guilt.  Because the debt of our sin has been paid, we are to show that same forgiveness towards others who have wronged us.

If God were really to forgive me only as much as I forgive others, I would be in big trouble!  Thankfully, His forgiveness is based on His unconditional love.  The payment for my sins comes from His mercy and His grace.  But when I refuse to forgive the one who wronged me, I conveniently forget how much of a debt the Lord paid in my case!  Somehow, pride is at the root of my failure to forgive when thinking I deserve forgiveness, but they do not!

“Jesus paid it all.  All to Him I owe.”  Surely the price He paid for me was so much higher than any price I pay in forgiving others.

Lord, help me to forgive.

Scripture for Today: Luke 17:4 “Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them.”

The phrase, ‘sounding like a broken record,’ probably has lost much of its meaning with the demise of vinyl records.  Of course, the record was not really broken when a word or phrase of a song repeated itself over and over.  It was usually a scratch or piece of debris causing the needle to get stuck.  But the phrase came to mean repeating one’s self.  This repetition devalues whatever is said, making it sound insincere.  The more one repeats one’s self, the more what is said sounds canned or contrived.

Today’s verse describes a similar scenario.  Someone who apologizes seven times within a twenty-four hour period loses credibility.  How could it not seem forced and artificial?  Yet, Jesus is saying that even so, we are to forgive.  Even more difficult is the idea that we are forgiving a brother or sister in the Lord (verse 3).  Our expectations of them are usually higher!  Jesus added to this challenge when He answered Peter’s question with the number 70×7 (Matt. 18:22).  The idea is that we are not even to count but always extend that forgiveness to those who ask.

What Jesus asks elicits the same response as that of His disciples, “Increase our faith!”  How else could I rise to this kind of challenge?  And yet, I so often ask the Lord to forgive me over and over, like that broken record.  And He does, every time.  He never withholds His pardon.  If He is so ready to give grace to me, then I need to extend that same grace to others.

Lord, help me to be as gracious to others as You are to me.