AND FORGIVE US OUR TRESPASSES, AS WE FORGIVE THOSE WHO TRESPASS AGAINST US

Jesus forgave the Penitent Thief his sins

"And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us"

 Little children, everyone makes mistakes. 

God teaches us that we make mistakes, and we need to be sorry when we cause hurt to ourselves and others through our mistakes.

Then we must start again, because God forgives us when we say sorry.

Thereafter let us try very hard not to make the same mistakes again.

Jesus also tells us in the Our Father prayer that other people will also make mistakes.

As God forgives us our mistakes, let us forgive others who hurt us.

This is behaving as a true child of God.

It is not always easy to forgive others. When we do this great thing, it means letting go of our own hurt, which is sometimes very hard to do.

It is especially hard to let go of hurt and our anger at being badly treated, when we are still suffering from the results of the unkind act of another.

However, this is the way we become like Jesus, the Son of God.

This is the way we become Christ-like.

Jesus was so wonderful that as He was dying on the cross, He forgave the poor soldiers who had nailed Him there.

He knew they were stuck in a horrible job they hated and were killing people because they had grown up in a violent society, and their mommies and daddies had not taught them not to kill people.

So He said to God, please forgive them Father, because they know not what they do.

Of course what they did not know was that they were killing God's own Son, and this was a terrible thing to do.

He knew when they came to be judged by God in heaven, they would be simply horrified to know just how bad a deed this was.

So Jesus just stopped the whole big problem right there and then, by saying, please forgive them.

Jesus also forgave the sins of the man dying on the cross next to him. Jesus promised the repentant man that he would be in paradise with him that very day. What a great promise.

The man had done terrible things in his life, but repented at the last.

And Jesus forgave Him. What a great God of forgiveness we have, and what an example of beautiful love and forgiveness Jesus is.

Let us try to be more like Jesus.

If there is anyone you need to forgive today, pray the Our Father:

"Our Father, Who art in heaven,

Hallowed be Thy Name:

Thy Kingdom come,

Thy Will be done,

On earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread,

And forgive us our trespasses,

As we forgive those who trespass against us,

And lead us not into temptation,

But deliver us from evil.

For Thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and ever, Amen."

Jesus taught us to forgive over and over again. As God forgives us our sins, we must forgive others.

This is a wonderful teaching. We let go of our hurt and anger, and are free to be happy again.

Thank You, Lord Jesus, for this great teaching.