Forgiveness

Matthew 6:9-15 contains the Lord's Prayer and a brief comment by Jesus regarding the prayer.

After sharing the Lord's Prayer with his disciples, Jesus says, "For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins."

A variety of Bible commentaries have sought to provide insight into Matthew 6:14-15.

The fact that Jesus comments just on the forgiveness portion in the Lord's Prayer tells us forgiving others is an important part of the Christian life and that not being able to forgive others is something that, at minimum, pulls us away from Christ.

We are called to forgive without an asterix. We aren't called to forgive just those who've asked for forgiveness. We aren't called to forgive just those who want our forgiveness. We aren't called to forgive just those who've repented. We are called to forgive everyone.

Even though we may despise the actions of abortion providers, we are still called to forgive them.