Offering Forgiveness  免我们的债，正如我们也免了人的债

By Michael Youssef, Ph.D. 

The line in the Lord's Prayer that reads, "[F]orgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors," does not mean that we earn God's forgiveness by forgiving other people (Matthew 6:12). If that were true, then salvation would rest on good works, and faith would be unnecessary. Paul says, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9). 

主祷文中的“免我们的债，正如我们也免了人的债”，并不意味着我们通过宽恕他人来赢得上帝的宽恕（马太福音 6:12）。如果那是真的，那么得救就在于善行，信心就没有必要了。保罗说：“你们得救是本乎恩，也因着信，这不是出于自己，乃是神所赐的，不是本于行为，免得人自夸”（以弗所书 2:8-9）

Our eternal debt was paid on the cross once and for all. Nothing is outstanding. Forgiving others is not a payment toward our own forgiveness; it's a sign of spiritual life. Once we have received God's forgiveness in Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit lives in our hearts, it follows that we should become more forgiving of people.

我们永恒的债务在十字架上一劳永逸地付清了。没有什么是突出的。宽恕他人并不是对我们自己宽恕的回报；这是精神生活的标志。一旦我们在耶稣基督里得到上帝的宽恕，并且圣灵住在我们的心中，我们就应该变得更加宽容他人。

There are two sides to forgiving. The first is transforming your attitude toward the person who has offended you, and the second is transforming your relationship with the person who has offended you. Both take courage.    

宽恕有两个方面。第一个是改变你对冒犯你的人的态度，第二个是改变你与冒犯你的人的关系。两者都需要勇气。

These two aspects to forgiveness take courage because we much prefer to go on clinging to our resentment. That way, we have a scapegoat. When things go wrong, we can say, "Well, that's because of so-and-so and the awful thing he did to me." It's childish, yet we find the habit incredibly hard to break. Most of the time the best we manage is to "forgive but not forget"—which is not really forgiveness at all because refusing to forget means we are reserving the right to bring the matter up again whenever we please. Holding a grudge—keeping that weapon in reserve—stifles the relationship.   

宽恕的这两个方面需要勇气，因为我们更愿意继续坚持我们的怨恨。这样，我们就有了替罪羊。当事情出错时，我们可以说，“嗯，那是因为某某和他对我所做的可怕事情。”这很幼稚，但我们发现这个习惯很难改掉。大多数时候，我们最好的办法就是“原谅但不要忘记”——这根本算不上真正的原谅，因为拒绝忘记意味着我们保留随时再次提起这件事的权利。怀恨在心——保留这种武器——会扼杀这种关系。

Real forgiveness has no memory. It does not shut other people into the locker of their past mistakes. It makes room for a genuine fresh start. Often, this transformation of attitude is all we need to transform the relationship.   

真正的宽恕是没有记忆的。它不会将其他人关在过去错误的储物柜中。它为真正的新开始腾出了空间。通常，这种态度的转变是我们转变关系所需要的。

Prayer: Father, help me transform my attitude toward those who have offended me and give me the courage to transform my relationship with them as well. I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen. 

祷告：天父，帮助我改变对那些冒犯我的人的态度，并给我勇气改变与他们的关系。我奉耶稣的名祷告。阿门。

"[F]orgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors" (Matthew 6:12). 

“免我们的债，正如我们也免了人的债一样”（马太福音 6:12）。