Only LORD JESUS CHRIST can take up ALL THE SINS! ANYTHING ONE can do is put one's own sins on HIM by accepting HIS OFFER OF SALVATION - coupled with taking up one's own cross and follow HIM! This OFFER stands for EVERYONE (no exceptions) who flees under HIS CROSS!
1Judge not, that ye be not judged. 2For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. 3And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? 4Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? 5Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye. Matt 7, 1-5
If your SIL won't forgive when asked then that is only hurting him in the end. Someday he will need forgiveness from someone else and ultimately God and it won't be there. There is absolutely no reason for you ever to feel guilty, especially about trying to save your grandkids' lives. You did the right thing, which means the world will hate it.
Holy Batman Napoleon! Talk about stirring up demons...
After Napoleon posted this post about forgiveness at 10:30 pm (last night), I woke up at 12:30 am (this morning) to go to the bathroom. Once in the bathroom a massive sleet storm rained down on the house. It was LOUD.
I went downstairs to get a piece of candy to calm my perpetual burning/dry mouth before going back to bed. Our cat Rusty, who has poopsadoodle issues, is banned from my bedroom because he pooped on my bed a month ago.
Good times.
Rusty followed me upstairs as the sleet storm was raging, and stupid me, I left my bedroom door open while I was looking outside my bedroom window at the sleet on the cars.
Rusty jumped on my bed, crouched and let rip a pee stream onto my comforter. He looked right at me and peed on my bed.
I screamed "hell no!" and threw him off my bed while I pulled off the comforter and blanket before Rusty's pee soaked into my mattress.
Good times.
Napoleon had just went to bed right before the sleet/pee storm, and didn't want to deal with the drama, so it was just me, Rusty and the sleet storm which ended as quickly as it started. I put Rusty into the basement where he can pee and poop anywhere to his heart's content.
While I was washing my comforter and blanket at 1:00 am, I noticed Rusty had also pooped in the dining room under the table.
Good times.
Ugh!!! I was angry. I went into the basement with Rusty and sat down in our chapel we built under the basement stairs. I told God I could no longer deal with the poopsadoodles' problem and I was tired. I also told God I know it is demons getting at me and Napoleon for writing about forgiveness. I know demons can enter animals as Jesus allowed demons to enter pigs.
The nutcase that I am, I believe in God, Jesus AND demons.
Last night before I went to bed (at 8:30 pm) I told God I was no longer going to watch horror movies, or movies about death and destruction. They are too demonic and evil for me and I need/want a peaceful/loving mind. I am sure the demons did not take to kindly to me choosing love over evil.
Anyway demons being demons always know how to get at humans by basically doing the same BS over and over again. The demons know Rusty's poopsadoodle problem irritates and angers me.
Hence Rusty peed on my bed right in front of me and pooped on the dining room floor. The demons rubbed their talons with glee hoping I would swear at God and disown him.
Yup it angered me. But this time I asked God to handle it, I have faith in God now more than ever. The demons lost this time. But there will always be a next time, unfortunately.
BTW: Kind of a funny bit to the boring story above - Rusty's pee has NO odor. He basically pees water. Plus his poops are pebbles. Easy to clean up. Small blessings from God.
Let me tell you about a spiritual attack that happened to me two days before I wrote this post about forgiveness. I'm sure most people will think I am making this up, but it actually happened. It was real.
After I fell asleep I woke up to music in my bedroom. Beautiful male voices singing Jesus Christ our Sovereign King and then the Ave Maria. It was coming from the corner of my room near the window so I figured it came from outside. But I kept wondering why someone was singing hymns at 11:00 at night. Then I figured it must be Pug listening to the radio in her room or the TV on downstairs. But I look in the hallway and all was dark. Then I thought maybe I was still in a dream, but I could see my room plainly and the tinnitus in my ear was still there as the hymns were being sung. How weird I thought.
Then when the hymns stopped, the demonic attack began. An evil force sat on my bed and when I tried to kick it off, it bit me on the wrist! I then said "oh no you didn't just do that!" I then kicked harder and told the demon to leave immediately. This continued for about thirty seconds and then the force left. I could see my room clearly during all this and I knew I wasn't asleep. But during the attack my body did not move, just my spirit. Even though the bite felt real there was no mark on my wrist. Good times!
Now when I look back on it, the demons knew I was going to post this article on forgiveness and were not happy about it. God knew too and said you can do it, even if nobody agrees with you. It's going to be hard, but remember who has your back. After I wrote the post last night, I tried to forgive the covid mass murderers from my heart. I don't think I really did it. I have issues.
Forgiving someone for their offense against us is healing to our soul but I don't think we have to embrace the offenders who have caused offense until they have paid the price of recompense. From what I understand murder is one of these situations. Ther is no easy way out by just saying "I'm sorry".
That is true. All of us will pay for what we do, no matter how much we ask for forgiveness or say "I'm sorry." I think alot of people think that justice will never come for the people who wage war, or murder, especially if we forgive them if they just say "oopsie!" That's not true. Those people will face eternal justice, we all do. Forgiving others is helpful for our eternal justice, not for the eternal justice of those we have forgiven. Such a hard concept that I don't even know if what I am talking about is correct. All I know is we all sin and if we don't show mercy to others, we should not expect mercy shown to us.
Jesus' prayer, which might better be called "The Disciples' Prayer", hits the high points. Matthew 6:11 addresses physical needs while verse 12 addresses spiritual needs. Matthew reads "forgive us our debts" in the Greek, while Luke 11:4 read "forgive us our sins". A related Aramaic word points to "sins", and both renditions are correct. Both also direct us to have forgiven or at the same time to forgive our "debtors". The language of the plea echoes Deuteronomy 15:2 (CSB):
"This is how to cancel debt: Every creditor is to cancel what he has lent his neighbor. He is not to collect anything from his neighbor or brother, because the LORD’s release of debts has been proclaimed."
This was to happen every seven years (v. 2).
I tend to think of it in terms of "debts", although "sins" works just as well. The request (prayer) is to be forgiven what we have cost God. The forgiveness comes with the command that we likewise forgive others for what they have cost us.
Forgiving the cost to us does not change what was done to us. It doesn't become OK. It does, however, release us from "holding account" and the need for retribution. 1 Corinthians 13:4-5 comes to mind:
"Love is patient, love is kind. Love does not envy, is not boastful, is not arrogant, is not rude, is not self-seeking, is not irritable, and does not keep a record of wrongs."
The need for this forgiveness is brought out right there in Matthew 6, in verses 14-15. You don't have to go to the parable:
"For if you forgive others their offenses, your heavenly Father will forgive you as well. But if you don’t forgive others, your Father will not forgive your offenses."
I think that is the essence of the Matthew 18 parable. What Jesus said on the cross and what Stephen said as he died are illustrations. Try not to make it more difficult than it already is.
A couple of days ago I attended a memorial for someone I knew, a little older than me, that appears to have been done in by his doctors and their precious injections. I don't think he even knew what was done to him -- we lost contact as he declined -- but if he had known then I am certain he would have forgiven them what it cost him. He was committed to this principle.
Watching people die this way (and I know others that are going, and others that are waiting to see what will happen) brings out in a personal way what the scriptures are saying, far more than does simply reading them. I don't know how to explain that. I just know that forgiving what others' wrongdoing costs us is absolutely essential, as is being forgiven by God if we are to live.
Our forgiveness is not to be conditioned upon others' repentance or lack thereof, which concerns what their actions (works) are going to cost them if they don't repent. We can pray that they might do so and also receive that forgiveness.
"Forgiving the cost to us does not change what was done to us. It doesn't become OK. It does, however, release us from "holding account" and the need for retribution."
This. Not forgiving someone retains the anger in me and the need for retribution that only God can and will render. I don't know if I truly still know what forgiveness is and how to really forgive, but I'm to the point where my daily short prayer for myself is now "forgive me Lord for I know not what I do, ever."
I didn't want to go into the Greek in my first reply, but here it comes now with commentary from people familiar with the nuances of the ancient languages.
(This author doesn't provide transliterations, but ὀφειλήματα is "opheilēmata" (ē is eta, long "a" sound) and αφίημι is "aphiēmi". The page numbers of the commentary are in brackets. This portion begins on page 229, and we are only six chapters into Matthew.)
6:12 And forgive us our sins (καὶ ἄφες ἡμῖν τὰ ὀφειλήματα ἡμῶν).
The second we-oriented petition turns from physical needs to spiritual needs. This and the next petition show that while earthly needs are important, spiritual needs are paramount. The crucial term here is τὰ ὀφειλήματα, a commercial term meaning “debt” but with a secondary metaphorical meaning (drawn from [Matt, p. 230] Aramaic) of “sin,” as a “debt” to God (Luke translates this and places “sin” in the text; cf. also 6:14–15 below). Matthew places great emphasis on forgiveness, as seen in the parable of 18:21–35 on the “unforgiving servant,” which ends, “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive a brother or sister from the heart” (cf. 6:14–15). Ἀφίημι has a wide range of meanings: “let go, give up” as well as “cancel, remit,” or “leave, abandon” or “let go, tolerate” (BAGD, 125–6). When used of sin it refers to remission of guilt and removal of the debt.
6:12 … as we also forgive those who sin against us (ὡς καὶ ἡμεῖς ἀφήκαμεν τοῖς ὀφειλέταις ἡμῶν).
The point here is that our experience of forgiveness must result in a change of heart on our part and a willingness to forgive those who have hurt us in a far less way than we have hurt God. Forgiveness is a major theme in Matthew (see 9:5, 6; 12:31–32; 18:21, 35). A renewed fellowship with God means a renewed fellowship with others in the community. It is not that our forgiveness is the basis of God’s forgiveness (yet see vv. 14–15 below), but rather that as we experience being pardoned by God, we must exercise in a greater willingness to pardon others. We are changed and strengthened by God’s love, enabling us to have the enabling power to do it ourselves.
[Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament: Matthew (ZECNT-Matt) by Grant R. Osborne]
Now on to Luke 11 and a another commentary from the same series, different author. (Transliterations: τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν "tas hamartias hēmōn"; ἀφίομεν "aphiomen".)
11:4a–b Forgive us our sins as we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us (καὶ ἄφες ἡμῖν τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν, καὶ γὰρ αὐτοὶ ἀφίομεν παντὶ ὀφείλοντι ἡμῖν). [Lk, p. 464] In 7:41–49
Jesus used the language of canceling debts (Deut 15:2) and connected it to the forgiveness of sins. This petition assumes that those who have been forgiven much not only must show their gratitude to God (7:47) but also must forgive debts owed to them.
The communal emphasis of the prayer is evident in the use of the plural (“our sins,” τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν; contrast Ps 25:18, “take away all my sins”). It is striking to request that God should forgive us as we forgive others (see Sir 28:2–7). The present tense of the verb in the phrase “as we ourselves forgive” (ἀφίομεν) suggests that this must become a habitual discipline (see 17:3–4). It does not mean that God’s forgiveness of us hinges on our forgiving others first. The Lord’s Prayer is to affect the distinctive way that disciples live and not just the distinctive way they pray. It has an ethical thrust; we ought not to expect to receive from God what we are not prepared to bestow on others.
This petition reflects a spiritual axiom that if one is not forgiving, one cannot receive forgiveness. A forgiving spirit is the outstretched hand by which we grasp God’s forgiveness. When that hand is closed tightly into a fist, it can receive nothing. Being forgiving is “not the ground on which God bestows forgiveness but the ground on which man can receive it.” The petitions for bread and forgiveness open up disciples to the future. They are not to be weighed down by anxiety about bread for tomorrow or by the burden of their past.
[Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament: Luke (ZECNT-Luke) by David E. Garland]
What a great comment CM! Especially: "A forgiving spirit is the outstretched hand by which we grasp God’s forgiveness. When that hand is closed tightly into a fist, it can receive nothing. Being forgiving is “not the ground on which God bestows forgiveness but the ground on which man can receive it.” The petitions for bread and forgiveness open up disciples to the future. They are not to be weighed down by anxiety about bread for tomorrow or by the burden of their past."
I wonder if Matthew's emphasis on forgiveness in his Gospel results from his prior life and actions as a tax collector.
Only LORD JESUS CHRIST can take up ALL THE SINS! ANYTHING ONE can do is put one's own sins on HIM by accepting HIS OFFER OF SALVATION - coupled with taking up one's own cross and follow HIM! This OFFER stands for EVERYONE (no exceptions) who flees under HIS CROSS!
1Judge not, that ye be not judged. 2For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. 3And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? 4Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? 5Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye. Matt 7, 1-5
Amen!
Well, about Rusty.
I think he has a problem that should be checked with the vet. Bloodwork done. Most kitties do not eliminate out of the box unless there is a problem
I have asked forgiveness but my son in law and daughter still shun me.
I am not feeling guilty. They have their own problem with me, so apologies do not really matter.
I suggested that they hold off getting the babies (3) getting jabbed
My son in law went berserk.
If your SIL won't forgive when asked then that is only hurting him in the end. Someday he will need forgiveness from someone else and ultimately God and it won't be there. There is absolutely no reason for you ever to feel guilty, especially about trying to save your grandkids' lives. You did the right thing, which means the world will hate it.
Holy Batman Napoleon! Talk about stirring up demons...
After Napoleon posted this post about forgiveness at 10:30 pm (last night), I woke up at 12:30 am (this morning) to go to the bathroom. Once in the bathroom a massive sleet storm rained down on the house. It was LOUD.
I went downstairs to get a piece of candy to calm my perpetual burning/dry mouth before going back to bed. Our cat Rusty, who has poopsadoodle issues, is banned from my bedroom because he pooped on my bed a month ago.
Good times.
Rusty followed me upstairs as the sleet storm was raging, and stupid me, I left my bedroom door open while I was looking outside my bedroom window at the sleet on the cars.
Rusty jumped on my bed, crouched and let rip a pee stream onto my comforter. He looked right at me and peed on my bed.
I screamed "hell no!" and threw him off my bed while I pulled off the comforter and blanket before Rusty's pee soaked into my mattress.
Good times.
Napoleon had just went to bed right before the sleet/pee storm, and didn't want to deal with the drama, so it was just me, Rusty and the sleet storm which ended as quickly as it started. I put Rusty into the basement where he can pee and poop anywhere to his heart's content.
While I was washing my comforter and blanket at 1:00 am, I noticed Rusty had also pooped in the dining room under the table.
Good times.
Ugh!!! I was angry. I went into the basement with Rusty and sat down in our chapel we built under the basement stairs. I told God I could no longer deal with the poopsadoodles' problem and I was tired. I also told God I know it is demons getting at me and Napoleon for writing about forgiveness. I know demons can enter animals as Jesus allowed demons to enter pigs.
The nutcase that I am, I believe in God, Jesus AND demons.
Last night before I went to bed (at 8:30 pm) I told God I was no longer going to watch horror movies, or movies about death and destruction. They are too demonic and evil for me and I need/want a peaceful/loving mind. I am sure the demons did not take to kindly to me choosing love over evil.
Anyway demons being demons always know how to get at humans by basically doing the same BS over and over again. The demons know Rusty's poopsadoodle problem irritates and angers me.
Hence Rusty peed on my bed right in front of me and pooped on the dining room floor. The demons rubbed their talons with glee hoping I would swear at God and disown him.
Yup it angered me. But this time I asked God to handle it, I have faith in God now more than ever. The demons lost this time. But there will always be a next time, unfortunately.
BTW: Kind of a funny bit to the boring story above - Rusty's pee has NO odor. He basically pees water. Plus his poops are pebbles. Easy to clean up. Small blessings from God.
Let me tell you about a spiritual attack that happened to me two days before I wrote this post about forgiveness. I'm sure most people will think I am making this up, but it actually happened. It was real.
After I fell asleep I woke up to music in my bedroom. Beautiful male voices singing Jesus Christ our Sovereign King and then the Ave Maria. It was coming from the corner of my room near the window so I figured it came from outside. But I kept wondering why someone was singing hymns at 11:00 at night. Then I figured it must be Pug listening to the radio in her room or the TV on downstairs. But I look in the hallway and all was dark. Then I thought maybe I was still in a dream, but I could see my room plainly and the tinnitus in my ear was still there as the hymns were being sung. How weird I thought.
Then when the hymns stopped, the demonic attack began. An evil force sat on my bed and when I tried to kick it off, it bit me on the wrist! I then said "oh no you didn't just do that!" I then kicked harder and told the demon to leave immediately. This continued for about thirty seconds and then the force left. I could see my room clearly during all this and I knew I wasn't asleep. But during the attack my body did not move, just my spirit. Even though the bite felt real there was no mark on my wrist. Good times!
Now when I look back on it, the demons knew I was going to post this article on forgiveness and were not happy about it. God knew too and said you can do it, even if nobody agrees with you. It's going to be hard, but remember who has your back. After I wrote the post last night, I tried to forgive the covid mass murderers from my heart. I don't think I really did it. I have issues.
Forgiving someone for their offense against us is healing to our soul but I don't think we have to embrace the offenders who have caused offense until they have paid the price of recompense. From what I understand murder is one of these situations. Ther is no easy way out by just saying "I'm sorry".
That is true. All of us will pay for what we do, no matter how much we ask for forgiveness or say "I'm sorry." I think alot of people think that justice will never come for the people who wage war, or murder, especially if we forgive them if they just say "oopsie!" That's not true. Those people will face eternal justice, we all do. Forgiving others is helpful for our eternal justice, not for the eternal justice of those we have forgiven. Such a hard concept that I don't even know if what I am talking about is correct. All I know is we all sin and if we don't show mercy to others, we should not expect mercy shown to us.
I agree about mercy, I just don't know the extent of it. I think I need to do more research about it.
Yes, that question.
Jesus' prayer, which might better be called "The Disciples' Prayer", hits the high points. Matthew 6:11 addresses physical needs while verse 12 addresses spiritual needs. Matthew reads "forgive us our debts" in the Greek, while Luke 11:4 read "forgive us our sins". A related Aramaic word points to "sins", and both renditions are correct. Both also direct us to have forgiven or at the same time to forgive our "debtors". The language of the plea echoes Deuteronomy 15:2 (CSB):
"This is how to cancel debt: Every creditor is to cancel what he has lent his neighbor. He is not to collect anything from his neighbor or brother, because the LORD’s release of debts has been proclaimed."
This was to happen every seven years (v. 2).
I tend to think of it in terms of "debts", although "sins" works just as well. The request (prayer) is to be forgiven what we have cost God. The forgiveness comes with the command that we likewise forgive others for what they have cost us.
Forgiving the cost to us does not change what was done to us. It doesn't become OK. It does, however, release us from "holding account" and the need for retribution. 1 Corinthians 13:4-5 comes to mind:
"Love is patient, love is kind. Love does not envy, is not boastful, is not arrogant, is not rude, is not self-seeking, is not irritable, and does not keep a record of wrongs."
The need for this forgiveness is brought out right there in Matthew 6, in verses 14-15. You don't have to go to the parable:
"For if you forgive others their offenses, your heavenly Father will forgive you as well. But if you don’t forgive others, your Father will not forgive your offenses."
I think that is the essence of the Matthew 18 parable. What Jesus said on the cross and what Stephen said as he died are illustrations. Try not to make it more difficult than it already is.
A couple of days ago I attended a memorial for someone I knew, a little older than me, that appears to have been done in by his doctors and their precious injections. I don't think he even knew what was done to him -- we lost contact as he declined -- but if he had known then I am certain he would have forgiven them what it cost him. He was committed to this principle.
Watching people die this way (and I know others that are going, and others that are waiting to see what will happen) brings out in a personal way what the scriptures are saying, far more than does simply reading them. I don't know how to explain that. I just know that forgiving what others' wrongdoing costs us is absolutely essential, as is being forgiven by God if we are to live.
Our forgiveness is not to be conditioned upon others' repentance or lack thereof, which concerns what their actions (works) are going to cost them if they don't repent. We can pray that they might do so and also receive that forgiveness.
"Forgiving the cost to us does not change what was done to us. It doesn't become OK. It does, however, release us from "holding account" and the need for retribution."
This. Not forgiving someone retains the anger in me and the need for retribution that only God can and will render. I don't know if I truly still know what forgiveness is and how to really forgive, but I'm to the point where my daily short prayer for myself is now "forgive me Lord for I know not what I do, ever."
I didn't want to go into the Greek in my first reply, but here it comes now with commentary from people familiar with the nuances of the ancient languages.
(This author doesn't provide transliterations, but ὀφειλήματα is "opheilēmata" (ē is eta, long "a" sound) and αφίημι is "aphiēmi". The page numbers of the commentary are in brackets. This portion begins on page 229, and we are only six chapters into Matthew.)
6:12 And forgive us our sins (καὶ ἄφες ἡμῖν τὰ ὀφειλήματα ἡμῶν).
The second we-oriented petition turns from physical needs to spiritual needs. This and the next petition show that while earthly needs are important, spiritual needs are paramount. The crucial term here is τὰ ὀφειλήματα, a commercial term meaning “debt” but with a secondary metaphorical meaning (drawn from [Matt, p. 230] Aramaic) of “sin,” as a “debt” to God (Luke translates this and places “sin” in the text; cf. also 6:14–15 below). Matthew places great emphasis on forgiveness, as seen in the parable of 18:21–35 on the “unforgiving servant,” which ends, “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive a brother or sister from the heart” (cf. 6:14–15). Ἀφίημι has a wide range of meanings: “let go, give up” as well as “cancel, remit,” or “leave, abandon” or “let go, tolerate” (BAGD, 125–6). When used of sin it refers to remission of guilt and removal of the debt.
6:12 … as we also forgive those who sin against us (ὡς καὶ ἡμεῖς ἀφήκαμεν τοῖς ὀφειλέταις ἡμῶν).
The point here is that our experience of forgiveness must result in a change of heart on our part and a willingness to forgive those who have hurt us in a far less way than we have hurt God. Forgiveness is a major theme in Matthew (see 9:5, 6; 12:31–32; 18:21, 35). A renewed fellowship with God means a renewed fellowship with others in the community. It is not that our forgiveness is the basis of God’s forgiveness (yet see vv. 14–15 below), but rather that as we experience being pardoned by God, we must exercise in a greater willingness to pardon others. We are changed and strengthened by God’s love, enabling us to have the enabling power to do it ourselves.
[Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament: Matthew (ZECNT-Matt) by Grant R. Osborne]
Now on to Luke 11 and a another commentary from the same series, different author. (Transliterations: τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν "tas hamartias hēmōn"; ἀφίομεν "aphiomen".)
11:4a–b Forgive us our sins as we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us (καὶ ἄφες ἡμῖν τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν, καὶ γὰρ αὐτοὶ ἀφίομεν παντὶ ὀφείλοντι ἡμῖν). [Lk, p. 464] In 7:41–49
Jesus used the language of canceling debts (Deut 15:2) and connected it to the forgiveness of sins. This petition assumes that those who have been forgiven much not only must show their gratitude to God (7:47) but also must forgive debts owed to them.
The communal emphasis of the prayer is evident in the use of the plural (“our sins,” τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν; contrast Ps 25:18, “take away all my sins”). It is striking to request that God should forgive us as we forgive others (see Sir 28:2–7). The present tense of the verb in the phrase “as we ourselves forgive” (ἀφίομεν) suggests that this must become a habitual discipline (see 17:3–4). It does not mean that God’s forgiveness of us hinges on our forgiving others first. The Lord’s Prayer is to affect the distinctive way that disciples live and not just the distinctive way they pray. It has an ethical thrust; we ought not to expect to receive from God what we are not prepared to bestow on others.
This petition reflects a spiritual axiom that if one is not forgiving, one cannot receive forgiveness. A forgiving spirit is the outstretched hand by which we grasp God’s forgiveness. When that hand is closed tightly into a fist, it can receive nothing. Being forgiving is “not the ground on which God bestows forgiveness but the ground on which man can receive it.” The petitions for bread and forgiveness open up disciples to the future. They are not to be weighed down by anxiety about bread for tomorrow or by the burden of their past.
[Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament: Luke (ZECNT-Luke) by David E. Garland]
What a great comment CM! Especially: "A forgiving spirit is the outstretched hand by which we grasp God’s forgiveness. When that hand is closed tightly into a fist, it can receive nothing. Being forgiving is “not the ground on which God bestows forgiveness but the ground on which man can receive it.” The petitions for bread and forgiveness open up disciples to the future. They are not to be weighed down by anxiety about bread for tomorrow or by the burden of their past."
I wonder if Matthew's emphasis on forgiveness in his Gospel results from his prior life and actions as a tax collector.