Matthew 6:12 (NIV) Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
Timothy Keller, suggests that our ability to forgive depends on the amount of emotional wealth we have. In other words, if I have a vast reservoir of self-worth or dignity or joy, someone might gossip about me, verbally assault me or walk out on me and I can say, "That's okay. I forgive him. There is plenty more where that came from." Thus our lack of forgiveness is not a matter of stubbornness but of emotional poverty. This then forces the question: Why am I so emotionally impoverished that I cannot forgive? What would it take for me to become a forgiving person? As far as I can see it is simple: Experiencing forgiveness. —Jim L. Wilson and Dave Bootsma
Jim L. Wilson, Fresh Illustrations – Fresh Illustrations: Forgiveness & Reconciliation, (Austin, Texas: WORDsearch, 2014), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 6.
