Good morning people who follow God’s instruction to forgive others.

It’s about to get real in BIY.

Luke 11:4 NKJV “And forgive us our sins, For we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one.”

Forgiveness is not something we do when we feel like it. It is not a step along the way when we have processed enough.

It is a condition of being forgiven by God ourselves.

I know you might not like this, and frankly, at times, I don’t either. I would like to add a, “Yeah, but…” after it, but there isn’t one in scripture.

Oh, and if you don’t think other people deserve your forgiveness, you don’t deserve God’s forgiveness, and yet He gives it to you freely! And don’t forget, He’s perfect and we are far from perfect.

And now I notice something more.

Straight after Jesus’ instruction in prayer about forgiveness, Jesus says to pray about not being led into temptation and about being delivered by the evil one. I’ll say it again, ‘straight after’…

Is it possible, that your challenge with temptation and feeling harassed and defeated by the devil is connected to you not having first forgiven those who are indebted to you?

Forgive others and you will be forgiven by God and empowered against the devil and temptation.