阅读经文 

主祷文的这个祈求有两个版本。马太引用耶稣的话说：“免我们的债”，（参太 6:12）而路加引用祂的话时说：“赦免我们的罪”，（参路 11:4）无论是“债”或是“罪”——还有“过犯”，都是在描述我们严重亏欠神，我们极其需要祂的恩典。

很感恩，我们获得的好消息是，耶稣已经为我们的罪债付了代价，我们若奉耶稣的名承认我们的罪，神就会赦免我们。

所以，我们可能会想：“如果我们已经被赦免了，那耶稣为什么还教导我们要不断祈求神的赦免呢？”问题在于，我们仍然会在罪中挣扎。尽管我们被赦免了，但我们就像任性的孩子一样，每天都会犯错——得罪神和得罪人。

所以，我们必须每天转向我们在天上的父，寻求祂的怜悯和慈悲，这样我们才能不断成长，像祂的儿子耶稣基督一样。

我们每天求神赦免我们的罪，是为了寻求更好地在世上尊荣祂和侍奉祂。

This petition of the Lord's Prayer has two versions. Matthew quotes Jesus as saying, "Forgive us our debts" (Matthew 6:12), and Luke quotes him as saying, "Forgive us our sins" (Luke 11:4). Either way, "debts" and "sins"—and also "trespasses"—describe how seriously we fall short before God and how much we need his grace.

The good news, thankfully, is that Jesus paid our debt of sin for us, and when we confess our sins in Jesus' name, God forgives us.

So we might wonder, "If we have been forgiven, why does Jesus teach us to keep asking God for forgiveness?"

Well, the problem is that we still struggle with sin. Ultimately we are forgiven. But, like wayward children, we continue to make offenses each day—against God and against people.

So we must turn daily to our heavenly Father, seeking his compassion and nurturing care so that we can keep growing to become like his Son, Jesus Christ.

When we daily ask God to forgive us our sins, we are seeking to grow in honoring and serving him in the world.