The third part of the Lord's prayer is forgiveness. When Jesus said, "And forgive us our sins..." He is not saying that He also sin like us. Jesus never sinned when He was walking on the earth; He was a perfect man. Jesus was showing His disciples that in their prayers, they could ask the Father for forgiveness. Every time we do something that is not pleasing to God, we sin against Him, and when we sin against Him, the only way to restore our relationship with Him is to ask for forgiveness. There is a tendency for us to run away from God to hide every time we sin, but God does not want us to do that, He wants us to go to Him to confess our sin and ask for forgiveness, for He is a gracious God who forgives sins.
And when God forgives us of our sins, God expects us to forgive those who sin against us. When Jesus was dying on the cross, He cried out to the Father to forgive those who were persecuting Him, saying, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." (Luke23:34). Jesus gave us the ultimate example of what it's like to have a sincere heart to forgive those who hurt us. As God forgives us of our sins, we must also forgive those who wronged us. Jesus even said, "For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you." (Matthew 6:14).
As children of our heavenly Father, we have the privilege to ask our Father for forgiveness whenever we sin. We do not need to punish ourselves or walk in guilt and shame. We only need to ask God for forgiveness because Jesus already died for the punishment of our sins and carried our guilt and shame on the cross. There is no sin that God cannot forgive when we ask God for forgiveness. However, God also expects us to forgive those who hurt or wronged us. This is very difficult for some of us to do, especially when someone hurts us deeply. However, we need to walk like Jesus walk. We need to forgive so that we can experience the freedom of forgiveness in our lives.
Ask yourself these questions: What does God want me to do when I sin? If God forgives me of my sin, what does He want me to do to those who sin against me? Am I willing to obey God in forgiving those who sin against me?
Write down all the worries that you are facing today and lift them up to God.
Prayer:
Father in heaven, please forgive me for all the sins that I have done. I confess all my sin to you. Thank you for your forgiveness. Please help me to forgive those who hurt me just as you want me to forgive them. Thank you for the freedom of forgiveness. Please help me with (mention your prayer requests). In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.