James 4:17 (NIV) Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins. You, like all the rest of us humans, have done things that have hurt people. In some cases you didn’t mean to, in others you did. There have been times when you couldn’t identify with other’s situations; and, you said and did things that damaged them. There have been times when you were insensitive to their needs and problems. They tried to reach out to you; but, you couldn’t or wouldn’t help. God calls these two types of behavior, sin.

Rom 3:23 (NIV) For ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. We have all contracted the spiritual disease of sin. We hurt people because we are damaged ourselves. God understands that we can’t help ourselves. He knows you are going to continue to hurt people until you have been healed in those damaged areas of your heart. He knows that, if He doesn’t help you, sin is going to keep on making you worse. No matter how hard you try, you are going to keep on mistreating more and more people. That is one of the reasons you made Jesus the Savior, Lord, and King of your life.

God isn’t upset with the fact that you do things that hurt people. The Bible says that He has responded to your condition with love. At a time when we were all infected with this sin disease, He demonstrated His love for us by dying for our sins so we could be cured. Rom 5:8 (NIV) But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. If He felt this way about you BEFORE you became a Christian, then He REALLY feels this way about you now that He is your heavenly Father.

God says pretty much the same thing in the book of First John. 1 John 4:9-10 (NIV) This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

Rom 7:15 (NIV) I do not understand what I do. For what I WANT to do I do not do, but what I HATE I do. You are a NEW child in the family of God; you are going to have to learn how to live a new life. Consider a baby or even a teenager who is learning how to live as a human. THEY MAKE A LOT OF MISTAKES. They will need a lot of forgiveness AND they will need to learn how to do a lot of forgiving.

Rom 1:21 (NIV) For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but their thinking BECAME futile and their foolish hearts WERE darkened. You were forgiven of all your past, present, and future sins; SO THAT you have Jesus and the Holy Spirit living inside you. You were forgiven so you could have DIRECT access to your heavenly Father. You were forgiven so you could GET Their help with your problem with sin. Without God’s help, you didn’t stand a chance of EVER getting better in your relationships with yourself, other people, and God’s plan. But, what if you don’t WANT to take advantage of this special relationship with your heavenly Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit?

Rom 7:19 (NIV) For what I do is not the good I WANT to do; no, the evil I DO NOT WANT TO DO--this I keep on doing. We can’t excuse ourselves, forgive ourselves, justify ourselves, or get people to tell us it isn’t our fault. We have to WANT to stop doing wrong, bad, and evil things to ourselves, others, and God’s plan. We have to WANT to do right, good, and righteous things to ourselves, others, and God’s plan.

Rom 7:18 (NIV) I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the DESIRE to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. Just because WE cannot carry it out, doesn’t mean we can’t get the power from Jesus to carry it out. Phil 4:13 (NIV) I can do everything through Him (Jesus) Who gives me strength.

Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. WE HAVE TO WANT TO FORGIVE OTHERS! How do we get to a place where we will WANT to forgive others so we can keep getting God’s forgiveness? Even after you have been a Christian for a long time, you will still do things that need to be forgiven. You will have to ask people to forgive you; and, you will need to ask God to forgive you. As you grow in your Bible knowledge, you will do less and less of those things God calls sin; but, you will never be perfect while here on earth. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. There is a way God wants you to look at your imperfections that will help you be able to forgive others.

Mat 7:2-5 (NIV) For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

God wants you to see your own imperfections as always being worse than those of the people around you. Why would He want us to look at ourselves in such a way? It is because we have a tendency to see our mistakes as being less important than those things others do to us. We often magnify the bad things others do and minimize those bad things we do. This causes us to judge others harshly and “forgive ourselves.”

Mat 5:23-24 (NIV) Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. FIRST go and be reconciled to your brother; THEN come and offer your gift. This is NOT fun! When Jesus starts bringing something you did to your attention and causes you to feel bad about it, He expects us to go make it right. We WILL want to “forgive ourselves,” justify ourselves, explain why it wasn’t our fault, talk to some of our friends and see if they see it our way, and try to just get Jesus to forgive us, if we promise to never do it again.

First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift. If we have to go make right everything we do wrong, bad, or evil to other people before we can come and offer our gift, it helps us WANT to stop doing wrong, bad, or evil things to others. It won’t cure us; but, it will help us seek God’s help with this problem.

This word “debts” is being used to describe all the things that people have done, are doing, and will do to hurt you. When they do, you can see it as a debt they owe you. You can think they OWE you an apology, a refund, a payment, or a chance for revenge. If you are struggling with being able to see how bad those things are that you do to people, then you will feel people OWE you a lot. You won’t be able to see HOW MUCH Jesus forgave you from; and, you won’t appreciate it enough to use it to be able to forgive others. But, if you allow God to show you how bad you REALLY were and still are, you will see how important it is for you to forgive others.

To the degree you see how much Jesus forgave you from, will be the same degree of appreciation you will have for that forgiveness. If you appreciate it a little bit, then you will have a small ability to forgive others. However, if you are very impressed with how much Jesus has forgiven you from, you will have a great heart of forgiveness for others. This part of this prayer will help you get the appreciation you need.