Paying the Debt

When someone sins against us, a debt is incurred. Someone needs to pay and someone will always pay. We may pay it by extracting it from the one who hurt us. We may pay it by assuming the loss ourselves. That debt is sometimes paid in one lump sum or by small installments. The debt payments may look like lingering resentment or bursts of anger. The debt may be paid in self-destructive behavior or persistent distrust and fractured relationships with others. Debts are paid in a host of different ways, but the fact remains that they must be paid. 

Our problem is not that we aren’t forgiving enough, it is that we are paying this debt from the wrong account. We cannot participate in God’s will to reconcile all things if we only rely on our own limited resources, we will go bankrupt. When God invites us to forgive debts, God makes sure that you are fully funded to do so.