In Jesus prayer He said we should say in our prayer,
“Forgive us as we forgive those who sin against us…for if you forgive men who sin against you your heavenly Father will also forgive you.” (Matthew 6:12,14).
Jesus says that if we want to be forgiven of our sins, we need to also forgive those who sin against us. We all want to be forgiven; we just don’t always like to forgive. Jesus told of a king who had a servant who owed him a lot of money. He told the man to pay him what he owed, or he would throw him into prison. The man pleaded with his master and the master forgave all his great debt. That man then found a fellow servant who owed him only a little money. When the man pleaded for time to pay his debt the man instead threw him into prison. When all of this was reported to the king, he called the man whom he had forgiven and said,
“You evil servant. You begged me to forgive your debt and I said to you that you did not owe anything. So you should have given that other man, who serves with you, the same mercy I gave you. The master was very angry so he put the servant in jail to be punished…” Jesus continued, “You must forgive your brother or sister with all your heart or my heavenly Father will not forgive you.” (Matthew 18:32-35)
Forgiveness is not an easy task. It is hard. But it is a necessary part of our growth in Christ. We forgive because He first forgave us. I don’t remember Jesus ever saying it was easy for Him to forgive us. It wasn’t easy, but He forgave us anyway. He forgave. So can you!