# Be Ready - Friday, 2025.11.28 ## 28 - As we also have forgiven Father, I have more questions than answers about this forgiveness thing. Please splain! - It would seem the phrase "forgive us our debts" is dependent upon "as we also have forgiven our debtors." So, if I don't forgive others, then is it true that You won't forgive me for the plethora of sins I have / will commit??? Is that what Jesus meant in Matthew 6.14-15? - So, let's assume I want to obey You and forgive someone for an egregious "sin" against me. How do I possibly do that? What does it look like to forgive him? Even after forgiving him, how do I ever trust him again? What about the times the "sin" pops into my head again and again? What about the possibility he will sin against me again in the future? Is this last question the same as the one Peter asked in Matthew 18.21-22? - What did Jesus mean when He said to the disciples after His resurrection, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you withhold forgiveness from anyone, it is withheld.” {John 20.22b-23 (BSB)} Did that statement only apply to the 11 disciples, or does it apply to all believers today? WRT the "sins" in this passage, are they only against God, or do they include when someone hurts me? - Why is this command plural? Was Jesus only talking about "community sins?" If so, what about sins against me? Was this verse meant as an all inclusive statement; sins against me as well as sins against my community? - How does this forgiveness thing relate to the so-called church discipline paragraph, Matthew 18.15-17? Father, my list of questions is seemingly infinite. However, I'll end this post with these: - Please splain the whole thing with David, Bathsheba & Uriah. {2 Samuel 11-12.23} - How is it that David states in Psalm 51.4a, "Against You, You only, have I sinned?" - What about Uriah, the son who died, all the people David involved in the cover-up and the ripple effect on all the people of Israel for years to come? {2 Samuel 12.10 - 2 Samuel 20} Father, even though I don't understand this forgiveness thing, I trust You know what You are doing! Somewhat like the father with a demon possessed son, I cry out, "I forgive, help my forgiveness! {Mark 9.24 (BSB)} ### Disciple's Prayer & Epilogue So then, this is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’ For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive yours. {Matthew 6.9-15 (BSB)}