The Fear of the Lords Prayer

The prayer that even many non-Christians know has some context that always gives me a shiver for my spiritual and mental health. As I say my prayers each night, there is almost always some person I need to forgive and pray for Christ’s forgiveness for both of us.

Mathew 6:9-13 ⁹ After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.¹⁰ Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.¹¹ Give us this day our daily bread.¹² And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.¹³ And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

Reading on is where that shiver arises.

¹⁴ For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:¹⁵ But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

This is unsurprising since as Christ was hanging on the cross he says:

Luke 23:34 Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.

Taking a look at Matthew 18:21-35 is also a scripture that Christians need since we want to follow Christ and his teachings. To remain Christians, we must take up our cross and follow him. Forgiveness often feels like a cross to our human pride, yet it is of both eternal and temporal value.

Matthew 18:21-35 is worth reading in whole, but here is the part that is really on my mind today.

³² “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. ³³ Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ ³⁴ In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. ³⁵ “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”

The section also tells us that we need to forgive an infinite number of times, as Christ forgives us.

So why do I believe this affects our mental health as well? Aside from the fact that our mental problems also create spiritual problems, lack of forgiveness fosters resentment, and “resentment is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die”. (Source unknown, sometimes attributed to Buddha.)

Christ has forgiven us an infinite debt at an unimaginable price. Why did Western civilization once flourish? Because much of it attempted to follow the teachings of the Bible, and the teachings of the Bible are what create healthy minds, bodies, lives, marriages, families, and civilizations.

Sometimes even secular artists in our age understand.