Day 5 – Forgive Us As We Forgive Others
Scripture Reading (NKJV)
“And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors.”
— Matthew 6:12 (NKJV)
There is something deeply humbling about these words.
Jesus has taught us to begin with our Father.
He has taught us to seek His Kingdom.
He has taught us to surrender our will.
He has taught us to trust Him for today’s bread.
Now He gently turns our attention to something that affects every relationship we have—with God, with others, and even with ourselves.
Forgiveness.
I don’t believe that is by accident.
Because nothing steals our peace quite like unforgiveness.
Forgiveness is often a journey.
Earlier this year, during our Encounter Ladies Weekend, one of our team leaders shared an illustration that has stayed with me.
She compared forgiveness to peeling an onion.
One layer at a time.
As one layer comes away, another is revealed.
Sometimes your eyes sting.
Sometimes the next layer hurts more than the last.
Yet you keep peeling.
You keep surrendering.
You keep releasing.
Until one day you realise the wound no longer controls your heart.
That picture reminded me that forgiveness is rarely a once-off decision.
It is a daily surrender.
Sometimes we forgive the same person more than once—not because the forgiveness didn’t count, but because another layer has surfaced.
Little by little, Jesus heals what once seemed impossible to heal.
Forgiveness is not pretending nothing happened.
Forgiveness never says that the hurt wasn’t real.
It doesn’t excuse sin.
It doesn’t remove consequences.
It doesn’t mean trust is instantly restored.
And it certainly doesn’t mean someone has earned the right to remain in your life.
Healthy boundaries and forgiveness can exist together.
Forgiveness simply says,
“I choose to place justice into God’s hands instead of carrying the weight of bitterness myself.”
One day I want to be able to think about those who hurt me without anger.
To genuinely pray that God would bless them.
Not because they deserve it.
But because that is exactly what Jesus has done for me.
Jesus showed us what forgiveness looks like.
While hanging on the cross, rejected, mocked and crucified, Jesus prayed,
“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.”
— Luke 23:34 (NKJV)
Those words still amaze me.
The very people driving the nails into His hands were the people He was praying for.
If Jesus could forgive in the middle of unimaginable suffering, then through His Spirit He can teach us to forgive too.
Not in our own strength.
But in His.
A loving warning from Jesus
Immediately after teaching His disciples the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus said,
“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 your trespasses.”
— Matthew 6:14–15 (NKJV)
Those are not my words.
They are Jesus’ words.
He wasn’t trying to frighten His disciples.
He was lovingly warning them.
Why?
Because unforgiveness hardens the heart.
It quietly imprisons us.
It steals our joy.
It robs us of peace.
We forgive because He first forgave us.
Our forgiveness doesn’t earn God’s forgiveness.
It reveals that we have truly understood and received His mercy.
There is a difference between struggling to forgive and refusing to forgive.
God understands our wounds.
He sees our tears.
But He lovingly invites us to surrender those hurts into His hands, one layer at a time.
Sometimes the hardest person to forgive is ourselves.
There is another kind of unforgiveness that often hides quietly in our hearts.
It isn’t directed toward someone else.
It is directed toward ourselves.
We replay the mistakes.
The poor decisions.
The words we wish we could take back.
The opportunities we missed.
The people we hurt.
The years we feel we wasted.
Even after asking God to forgive us, we continue carrying guilt that Jesus already carried to the cross.
We build a prison with bars of shame and regret, then wonder why we don’t feel free.
But if God has forgiven us, who are we to continue accusing ourselves?
The enemy wants us chained to yesterday.
Jesus invites us to walk in the freedom of today.
Receiving God’s forgiveness doesn’t mean pretending our mistakes never happened.
It means believing that His grace is greater than our failures.
His mercy is greater than our shame.
His cross is greater than our past.
As Paul reminds us,
“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus…”
— Romans 8:1 (NKJV)
If Christ no longer condemns us, we must stop living as though we are still condemned.
Don’t let yesterday become your prison.
Unforgiveness slowly changes us.
Bitterness grows quietly.
If left unchecked, it begins to affect our relationships, our worship, our joy and even our view of God.
Someone once said,
“Hurting people hurt people.”
There is wisdom in those words.
If we never allow Jesus to heal our wounds, we often bleed on people who never caused them.
That is not the life Christ died to give us.
He came to set captives free.
Including us.
Today’s Prayer
Father,
Thank You for forgiving me when I did not deserve it.
Your mercy has changed my life.
Today I choose to release every person who has hurt me into Your loving hands.
Some wounds are easy to surrender.
Others still feel impossible.
But I trust that what I cannot do in my own strength, You can do through Your Spirit.
Heal every hidden wound.
Remove every root of bitterness.
And Lord, help me also to receive the forgiveness You have already given me.
Free me from shame.
Free me from guilt.
Free me from condemnation.
Teach me to see myself through the eyes of Your grace instead of through the lens of my failures.
Help me walk in the freedom that Jesus purchased for me at the cross.
May Your love become greater than my pain.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen.
Reflection
Is there someone—or even yourself—that you need to release into God’s hands today?
Today’s Truth
Forgiveness doesn’t change the past, but it frees your heart to walk with God today.
Whisper for Today
One whisper of forgiveness can begin a lifetime of freedom