What Do You Owe

Debt (Introduction)

Debt is a tool of entrapment. Essentially people end up in debt by spending money they do not have or refusing to pay back money that they owe. In America we have hit an all time high as it pertains to student loan debt, people trying to secure a future but leave with an education but lack the employment to pay back what they borrowed to go to school. There’s credit card debt, pay day loan debt, liens against homes, foreclosures, repossessions, medical bills and many other forms of debt that are hurting families are a daily basis.

There’s a spiritual debt that many of us owe on a daily basis as well. That debt is sin, and praise be to God that Jesus paid the debt of sin so that we might have a chance at eternal life. Granted we did not have to pay what we owe, nonetheless there are plenty of times that people have robbed us of feelings, mental space, years of our life yet we hold the debt against them for lifetimes sometimes. We all have had moments of pain and emotional trauma at the expense of the actions of someone else. Every time we see the person, the pain grows and intensifies. This is something we have to free ourselves from, otherwise we will live a life in this emotional and traumatic bondage that we will not be freed from unless we let go.

In this portion of the prayer Jesus is asking that God forgives us of our debts, but also that we forgive the trespasses or debts of others who quote “owe us”. This debt refers to our sin, failing to keep our obligation to God in a moral sense. Considering we all have sinned, allows us to understand that we all need forgiveness. Just because it’s not a struggle today does not mean it wasn’t a struggle for you ever. Also, your ability to get over the hump of forgiveness is not a pass to rush the process for someone else.

In it’s simplest terms, if we want God to forgive us, we have to start forgiving each other. We speak about forgiveness, we teach on it. Nonetheless the lack of forgiving one another is the real reason the family reunion does not happen any more. The lack of forgiveness is the reason why we aren’t as close as we used to be, the reason we don’t have thanksgiving at Auntie’s house no more, the reason I haven’t seen my cousins in over 3 years. It’s the lack of forgiveness.

Families are divided because of the lack of forgiveness. Brothers and sisters have spoken is years because of the unwillingness to forgive one another. Parents and children are no longer talking, relationships are not cultivated between grandchildren and grandparent because we are not forgiving to each other. We can not move forward, we refuse to let go we allow trespasses to transcend love, we allow issues to illustrate hate, and we allow bitterness to berate our spirits.

Forgiveness Defined

Jesus ask God to forgive us, as we should ask God to forgive us.

Forgiveness or to release from legal or moral obligation or consequence, cancel, remit, pardon.

Forgiveness is defined in a legal and moral sense, but emotionally and mentally we end up in a court of feelings attempting to judge people according to what they’ve done. Then here is God, asking us to release people who have sinned against us. When we get upset about the wrongdoings others have done to us, we have to think about how many times God has said I forgive you.

Forgive us of our debts, something that is owed. In this sense it’s an obligation in a moral sense a debt or a sin. We all have a moral obligation to mankind. Despite the moral obligation we have for mankind, there are times we mess up. We fall short, not only do we fall short with each other but we fall short with God.

We owe God the fullness of our obedience, when we do not pay what we owe as it pertains to God he is the only one who can clear the debt. This is why forgiveness can be between us an God even if the person who owes us does not see a need to seek forgiveness on our behalf.

This is why Jesus, hanging on the cross, with nails in his hands, blood dripping from his beaten body could say, “father forgive them for they know not what they do”.

We have to have that for they know not what they do moment if we plan on healing. People see your wounds, people know what they did, but trying to get them to understand that they hurt you is not a one way street.

The word “as” in this text is the pinnacle of comparison. Jesus makes this comparison that should carry over to our lives. Forgive us as we forgive others. The prayer recognizes the idea that we have no right to seek forgiveness for our own sins if we are keeping forgiveness from others.

When we say “I’ll never forgive you” it shows we are not really aware of our own sins. If we want to receive love we have to be willing to share it as well. It takes a sense of empathy to forgive. How many times have we messed up, how many times have we let someone down. How many times have we had to say I am sorry!

Forgiveness has to be a solution, intentions are not enough. Many of us intend on forgiving but when the issue has become one that is too hard for us to handle we was justification for withholding forgiveness from the people that have wronged us.

We have to forgive, we have to love and do good to the offender. “Let love be without hypocrisy, Abhor what is evil and Cling to what is good. Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love.

Not only should we forgive but we should not rejoice in the failures of others either! Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles.

If we are going to expect God to forgive us we have to be willing to forgive others. Too many of us are holding on to past hurts and pains that are prohibiting us from moving forward in life.

Some of us aren’t ready for a husband or a wife because we are too caught up with the pain of a past relationship. Some of us have a hard time serving in ministry because we haven’t let go of past church hurt. God has a new opportunity waiting for you but because we are too busy waiting for the shoe to drop on the head of our offender we miss out on a golden opportunity.

Hold on to the example of the one who shows kindness, quit getting caught up on the folks that hurting people and find someone who is loving folks and use them as inspiration. (Jonathan)

Who can we show kindness to? Even better can we show kindness to the folks that hurt us?

How foolish does it look for us to be hateful to the children, and the next generation because of past hurt. Sometimes it’s God giving us another chance.

Jesus was able to forgive on the cross because his eyes were on heaven. When our eyes are fixed on something greater we do not have time to look back at what’s worse. We are missing out on opportunities to love and build healthy relationships because we keep looking back at the things that did not work out.

My parents divorced when I was 12 years old. I wanted to be like my dad in a number of ways. He dresses well, a good looking man according to man. Well liked, and truthfully a leader in his own right. When my parents split it was a sense of anger I carried, I resented any older man that tried to give me instruction.

Even as I approached adulthood, I looked for a relationship with my father that I felt like I missed out on. Where I was struggling was I was trying to impose my relationship with God on my earthly father. There’s nothing I can do about the conversations I felt like I missed out on, there’s nothing I could do about the father son issues I carried until I forgave my father and forgave myself for the resentment I harbored. I did not speak to my father, I was angry and hotheaded, there was no peace because I was trying to make up for lost time.

I cannot do anything about yesterday, you cannot do anything about yesterday. But what you can do is build today. You can forgive today, you can let go today. Understand something, the debtor is forgiven by us not the debts. Only God can cancel debts. We are trying to play loan officer and collection agency when God never intended for us to do such. We can never repay God for what He has done for us, nor should we expect repayment from others who can’t go back in time and fix what they did wrong.