[Dean's World] Dean: ...As We Forgive Those Who Trespass Against Us

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Posted by Dean:
...As We Forgive Those Who Trespass Against Us
http://www.deanesmay.com/posts/1204040243.shtml


   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 trespasses,
   As we forgive those who trespass against us.
   And lead us not into temptation,
   But deliver us from evil.

   The above is a popular traditional English version of what is known as
   the [1]Lord's Prayer. It has been translated into hundreds of
   languages, and is probably the best known and most often repeated
   prayer in the Christian religion. I've even known some Jews who use
   it.

   I had a deacon in church recently point out something interesting
   about the line, "forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who
   trespass against us." I'd always thought of those as two separate
   statements, as in, "God should forgive me, and I should forgive
   others." But the language is actually stronger than that: it's asking
   God to forgive us to the same extent that we forgive others. If you
   can't forgive others, you can't expect God to forgive you. It's not
   two separate statements on forgiveness, it's one statement: forgive me
   as I forgive others.

   It's not always easy, following things like this.

References

   1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord's_Prayer