Matteo 6:12

One of the greatest spiritual and temporal needs: And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

We daily contract an enormous, an unbelievable amount of debts before God. And the more we desire the fulfillment of the first petitions, the more conscious we shall be of our shortcomings. This debt, in its nature, being an account of God against us, whether the sin is committed directly against Him, or whether it harms the neighbor and thus transgresses His Law, must stand charged against us forever, rendering us subject to the debtor's damnation, Matthew 18:24-25, unless we receive forgiveness, a full and free pardon from the free mercy of God in Jesus, which we here plead for.

revenge and hatred can, of course, not be in any man's heart when he prays this petition. The more conscious a person is of his own mistakes and shortcomings, the more indulgent his heart will be toward the faults of others, even when committed against himself. It would condemn him to everlasting damnation if his forgiveness would not be patterned after that of his heavenly Father, vv. 14, 15.