“… and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

Matthew 6:12 lays out a difficult, even frightening and confusing portion of The Lord’s Prayer. In teaching the disciples how to pray, Jesus reveals that human forgiveness and divine forgiveness are connected. The petition reads, “Forgive us our trespasses (debts, sins), as we forgive those who trespass against us.” Pain and offense is universal. We have all been wronged in some way. It’s real, it hurts and we live with the effects. Revenge seems to be in order. But the need for forgiveness is also universal. From these words of Christ, does our resistance to forgive hinder God’s forgiveness of us? Does our unwillingness affect our standing before God? How do we pray and live these words about forgiveness?