And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. Matt 6:12

I was raised Presbyterian, proud of my Scots’ heritage. We didn’t eat haggis, but we knew our plaid!

I now attend a non-denominational church. Like most churches, we recite together The Lord’s Prayer during Sunday service. However, I still have a wee bit of a Scottish hangover as I still whisper “debts” instead of “trespasses.” After twenty years, I can’t seem to break this habit! 

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 debts as we forgive our debtors.

Why does my tongue always stumble over “trespasses” and resort to that familiar “debts”?

Debt Aversion

I think it goes back to my highland heritage! Scots are known to be parsimonious, and for a Scotsman, there is nothing more cringe-worthy, disgraceful and humiliating than carrying a debt. Compare a debt to a trespass. A trespass conveys that you merely wandered into someone else’s yard, but a debt? A debt is serious stuff! The word has gravitas. In my parents house it was shameful to be in someone’s debt. And I was in debt until Jesus paid it off for me. That hits home. Way more than a trespass.

Paul’s letter to the Romans tells us that we all have sinned (Romans 3:23), and he avers the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). We are all under a peculiar form of indebtedness to God that we simply cannot pay. Enter Jesus, the ultimate debt relief program! Without the ruinous rates and collection calls! 

Luke reminds us that Jesus said “He who is forgiven much (debt) loves much; he who is forgiven little (debt) loves little.” I think that’s why I love Him so much. The scale of my debt was such a heavy balance.

Colossians 2:14 explains how Jesus cancelled the charge of our legal indebtedness. I love how the Voice translation puts it…”it was God who brought us to life with Him, forgave all our sins, and eliminated the massive debt we incurred by the law that stood against us. He took it all away; He nailed it to the cross.”

Debt Cancellation

OK, so my debts have been forgiven, but what about my debtors? Sigh. I’m willing to accept that Jesus paid me off, but how good am I at reciprocating? What’s my debt forgiveness program look like?

Paul urges us to ”let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another.”

Ugh! Maybe, like me, there’s someone in your life whose transgression you don’t want to let go. Someone whose debt you want to hold over their head.

Forgiveness. Jesus commands that we need to forgive 70×7 times. So, not only do I have to forgive, but now I have to do math?

God knows that we can never be free of our own debt while we hang on to other peoples’. That is why he commands us to forgive our debtors.

I think it’s time for a few more verses of the classic Hymn, Come Thou Font of Every Blessing…

”Oh, to grace how great a debtor

Daily I’m constrained to be

Let Thy goodness like a fetter

Bind my wandering heart to Thee.”