Did you know that God is under no obligation to forgive you of your sins? His willingness to forgive us of  our sins is conditional. We read about this in Matthew 6:14–15: “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.”

This is pretty serious stuff. Of course we want God to forgive us our sins.  He has the ability to forgive, yet the scripture in Matthew says that He will not unless we forgive others of their trespasses against us. And that is why we pray in the Lord’s Prayer: “…and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

In Ephesians 4:32 we read this admonition: “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God has forgiven you.”

So what have we learned today? Forgiveness is mandatory if we want God to forgive us.