Consequence of Unforgiveness

Perhaps you remember a classmate in elementary school who bullied you. Or you might recall a family member who failed to keep a promise. Maybe you were treated unfairly by your employer or cheated when making a purchase. Most of us could easily make a lengthy list of the specific ways others have wronged us.

Our reading today begins with an exhortation against hypocrisy in prayer. Jesus instructs us not to be like people who stand “on the street corners to be seen by others” (v. 5). We are to pray in sincerity, with our intended audience being only God Himself. We also do not need to worry about formality or length in our prayers (v. 7). The purpose is to connect with God, to confess our sin, and to ask for His guidance.

Jesus gives His disciples an example of how they should pray. The Lord’s Prayer has been a blessing to believers, used in worship, and examined in sermons. It contains adoration for God, acknowledgment of His holiness and supremacy, confession for sins, and a plea for guidance and protection.

But with our focus on forgiveness this month, notice how Christ’s prayer emphasizes its necessity: “For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you” (v. 14). This is a promise. When we forgive others, releasing the account of their wrongdoing from our mental ledger, our hearts are open to experience God’s forgiveness.

The corollary to this spiritual principle warns of the consequence of a refusal to forgive others: “If you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins” (v. 15). Our willingness to forgive reveals our relationship with the Lord.

Pray with Us

As we continue to pray for Educational Ministries professors, thank the Lord today for Peter Worrall, Mary Martin, Timothy Downey, and Robert MacRae and their services as wise guides, counselors, and friends of the students.

BY Jamie Janosz

Jamie Janosz serves as a content development manager for Moody Bible Institute. She writes monthly devotionals for Today in the Word and has published non-fiction essays with Christianity Today’s Her.meneutics blog. Recently Jamie wrote a book titled When Others Shuddered: Eight Women Who Refused to Give Up (Moody Publishers). Jamie studied theology and writing at Moody Bible Institute, Columbia College, and Illinois State University. She lives on the Atlantic coast of Florida with her husband, Milt, and daughter, Sabrina.