Matthew 6: 12 Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

It is said that forgiveness frees the one who forgives as much as it frees the one who is forgiven. It is absolutely true. Jesus makes forgiveness by God conditional upon our first forgiving others. (Matthew 6:14 – 15) Maybe you have said the Lord’s Prayer routinely but never let it dawn on you that action is required on your part. It is as though Jesus is saying ‘go and do’ and then come and pray.

I am assuming of course that as a believer, you make a habit of paying your debts. But how do you handle a situation where someone owes you and has not repaid or cannot repay the debt? Jesus is actually telling us that the debt must be forgiven. Ouch! Families have been ruined and relationships severed because of failure in this area of life.

The relationship most harmed by an unwillingness to show forgiveness and understanding is marriage.  In 1 Peter chapter 3 Paul counsels wives to be submissive to their husbands. But he also pleads with husbands to be considerate of their wives. He says “and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life so that nothing will hinder you prayers.”(Verse 7) Clearly husbands and wives have to be in “forgiveness mode” every day and the husband is expected to lead in this regard. So it’s time to shred the “list of wrongs” and to forgive so that God will hear your prayers and you can begin to not just survive but thrive together.