“Forgive us...as we forgive...”, which means that our forgiveness of others is the measure of our own state of forgiveness, “for with the measure you use it will be measured back to you” (Luke 6:38).

If we cling to resentment, bitterness, or a desire for revenge, we appeal to principles that alienate us from reconciliation with others. But if we intend to have God be the Judge of others, we appeal to Him to be our own Judge as well.

This petition functions as a mirror for our hearts: as we forgive others who have sinned against us, so we apprehend the forgiveness of the LORD. Or, to put it the other way, our experience of the forgiveness of the LORD is revealed in the way we treat others who have wronged us.

If we merely hear this truth but fail to practice it, we are like someone who looks at their face in a mirror but soon forgets what they saw, thereby exempting themselves from the truth of their own condition (James 1:22-24).

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