It seems appropriate to consider the idea of forgiveness on Easter. After all, it is because of Christ's death and resurrection that my sins are forgiven.
It makes sense to ask for forgiveness of sins. Sin separates us from God. However, "sin" may not be the best word here. While it seems clear that sin is what is being talked about, more often we find the word "debt." In days of old a sacrifice was required for the forgiveness of sins. You owed that to God. That was the price for restoring a right relationship. However now, Christ has paid off our debt. He is our perfect and complete sacrifice that restores our relationship to God. Great deal.
The next part is a little harder though; "As we forgive our debtors."
Sometimes forgiving others is easy. Someone accidentally bumps you, or spills your drink, that is easy enough to forgive. However, what if some jerk punches you in the face, or your boss fires you from your job. Those are a little harder to forgive. I know there are some people who I still have a hard time forgiving. Nonetheless Christ is adamant about us forgiving others. After instructing the disciples how to pray he continues by saying, "For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." That's a big deal.
Forgiving is a necessary step for love. We can't love others if we hold onto the things they have done to wrong us. It isn't easy all the time. Some people seem nearly impossible to love, especially forgive. I know I still have some work to do in this area, but it is nice to be able to ask God for his help.
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