There is a saying that we do forgive, but we want justice. When we miss the mark, which is what the word sin in Luke’s version of the Our Father means (Luke 11:1-13), then we have not lived up to life’s highest expectations. We have missed the mark. Our sins are an unfulfilled obligation to others and to God, an injustice that needs to be set right, a debt that we owe. When we forgive we release others, not only of their having missed the mark but also of the debt of justice that is owed to us. We give up the right to justice. For instance, if someone has unjustly swindled us out of something valuable, forgiveness means we give up the right to that thing. Because we do, we can rightly ask God to forgive our debts.
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