And forgive us our debts,
 as we also have forgiven our debtors. … For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

- Matthew 6:12, 14-15

Can Jesus really mean this? Forgive or you will not be forgiven.

This phrase is found at the heart of The Lord’s Prayer. Jesus teaches his followers to pray for forgiveness and presumes that forgiveness of others has already taken place. There appears to be an order of operations: as you forgive, you Father sees that and forgives you as you ask for it.

This is the only commentary Jesus gives on this prayer in Matthew’s gospel. Jesus seems to anticipate that his followers will struggle with this idea of forgiveness.

We often think about God’s forgiveness as how we gain entry into God’s family. But what Jesus is talking about here is not how we get in but rather how we stay in or how it looks to live in God’s family.

Our initial reception into God’s family is not contingent on our work or earning, but is instead via a huge and life-transforming infusion of forgiveness and mercy. We are fully welcomed into the family. But there are rules in the family house. People in this family forgive others. Forgiveness is the air we breathe.

Within your relationship with God, there’s a cycle of mercy: God forgives us (as we ask) and we obey him (by forgiving others). If we refuse to forgive, we break the cycle of mercy. This is not wholly contingent on us, but we do have a real part to play.

Don’t break the cycle of mercy. God wants to forgive us AND our enemies. If we break the cycle, it has real consequences for us (our hearts grow hard) and for others (they don’t see God’s mercy).

To whom do you need to show mercy today?