Have I Realized Forgiveness Has Vertical & Horizontal Dimension?

"To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable (in others), because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you." C.S. Lewis, On Forgiveness in The Weight of Glory 
We continue our study on the pattern of prayer given to us by Jesus. The verse for today's meditation is 

And forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors.

Matthew 6:12 

Two little boys let us name them Bobby and Johnny. They had a quarrel. But the next morning, Johnny took his cap and headed for Bobby's house again. Surprised, an older member of the family said teasingingly, "What! Going to play with him again? I thought you quarreled only last evening and were never going to have anything more to do with each other. Funny memory you have."
Johnny looked a little sheepish, dug his toe into the carpet for a moment, and then flashed a satisfied smile as he hurried away saying, "Oh Bobby and me are good forgetters."

The verse we are meditating today has two request, both of which deal with forgiveness. The first one includes the forgiveness we receive from God and the second, deals with the forgiveness which we are to give to others. 

When we look at this prayer we see that Jesus is not simply teaching us to ask for forgiveness. But He qualifies the petition by adding 'as we forgive our debtors.' What does 'as' mean here? In Greek 'as' (hos) means 'like'. Which means we are asking God to forgive us 'just as' or 'in the same manner as' we forgive others. 

So when we pray this prayer it simply means - Dear Lord forgive me in the same way that I forgive my fellow brother or sister and if I'm hard hearted and unforgiving towards them, then, You apply the same standard toward me. Don't forgive me. 

Warren Wiersbe, in his book Prayer, Praise and Promises says, "It's easy to humble ourselves before God in seeking forgiveness in the vertical dimension. It is a much harder deal to do this in the horizontal dimension with our fellow being."

Our natural tendency is to harbour resentment. But this prayer teaches us that we cannot do that. This prayer then in a way is the most practical thing in the world because it reminds us in our regular life of prayer that if we claim to follow Jesus, we must, and this must is without an option, live a life of radical grace to our fellow beings. We must live a life of forgiveness. 

One of the dialogues between Peter and Jesus makes this fact stronger. In Matthew 18:21-22 Peter comes to Jesus and asks, " Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven time?" Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times." 

Peter asked this question with an intention to fix a limit on forgiveness. Peter thought and believed that the seven time standard was good enough. But Jesus blows up his understanding into pieces when He says seventy seven times. In other words Jesus says there is no limit on forgiveness. To highlight His point, Jesus tells the parable of the unmerciful servant (Matthew 18:23-35). 

When Jesus gave this pattern for us to pray, Jesus observed this in His own life. On the cross when he was tortured, despised, made fun of - His prayer for those who did this was "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." (Luke 23:34) 

So, the point is clear to us. This is what Jesus is teaching us - "unless" we forgive, we can expect no forgiveness. This is not easy for us to do. At least I can say for sure about myself. We always spot the sins of our neighbours but we miss the log in our own eye. 

This Lenten Season let us ask God for the gift of forgiveness and at the same time help us demostrate unconditional love, even to those who hurt us and may we be able to release the hurt and begin to love as Christ loved. 
May the Lord help us in this journey. God Bless You.