You do not have to feel it first
What forgiveness actually asks — and what it does not
The argument
You forgave them and it did not take, so you concluded it did not count. That conclusion is a matter of vocabulary. Jesus taught people to ask "forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors" — accounting language, not emotional language — and the Greek word underneath forgive means to send away. Forgiveness is the release of a claim you are genuinely entitled to hold, which makes it available tonight, whatever you feel. Also: the sentence after the one everybody quotes, and why what is forbidden is the ledger rather than the boundary.
What to actually do
- Name the debt — you cannot release what you will not name
- Cancel it as a decision, and expect to repeat it
- Keep the boundary — the ledger was forbidden, not the door
5 movements
Forgiveness is a release, not a feeling
Matthew 6:14 · Sermon on the Mount
“For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:”
Matthew 6:14 (KJV)
- ἀφίημι af-EE-ay-mee To send away — to release, to cancel a debt Greek
- παράπτωμα pa-RAP-toh-mah A side-slip — the accident and the deliberate act Greek
- ὀφειλήματα of-ay-LAY-ma-tah Debts — what is owed Greek
Received first, then extended
Matthew 18:21-35 · The unforgiving servant
“Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?”
Matthew 18:21 (KJV)
“Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.”
Matthew 18:22 (KJV)
“If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold.”
Genesis 4:24 (KJV)
“And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents.”
Matthew 18:24 (KJV)
“Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt.”
Matthew 18:27 (KJV)
“But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest.”
Matthew 18:28 (KJV)
“Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me:”
Matthew 18:32 (KJV)
“Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee?”
Matthew 18:33 (KJV)
“And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.”
Matthew 18:34 (KJV)
“So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.”
Matthew 18:35 (KJV)
The sentence after the one everybody quotes
Matthew 6:15 · The appendix to the Lord's Prayer
“But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”
Matthew 6:15 (KJV)
What is forbidden is the ledger, not the boundary
Matthew 18:15 · Seventeen verses earlier
“Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.”
Matthew 18:15 (KJV)
“Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him.”
Luke 17:3 (KJV)
“So shall ye say unto Joseph, Forgive, I pray thee now, the trespass of thy brethren, and their sin; for they did unto thee evil: and now, we pray thee, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of thy father. And Joseph wept when they spake unto him.”
Genesis 50:17 (KJV)
“And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for am I in the place of God?”
Genesis 50:19 (KJV)
“But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.”
Genesis 50:20 (KJV)
When you cannot
Luke 17:5 · The apostles' answer
“And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.”
Luke 17:4 (KJV)
“And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith.”
Luke 17:5 (KJV)
“Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.”
Luke 23:34 (KJV)
“And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.”
Acts 7:60 (KJV)
“As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.”
Psalm 103:12 (KJV)
“He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.”
Micah 7:19 (KJV)
“And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.”
Ephesians 4:32 (KJV)
“Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.”
Colossians 3:13 (KJV)
“And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.”
Matthew 6:12 (KJV)
You do not have to feel it first on video
A hundred verses, each taken back to the word underneath it.
100 Roots in Scripture — Every verse in its own language, in its own place.
