⭐WEB · Matthew 6:14
What does Matthew 6:14 mean?
"“For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you."
— Matthew 6:14 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors.
Bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For yours is the Kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. Amen.’
“For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
But if you don’t forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
“Moreover when you fast, don’t be like the hypocrites, with sad faces. For they disfigure their faces, that they may be seen by men to be fasting. Most certainly I tell you, they have received their reward.
But you, when you fast, anoint your head, and wash your face;
Explanation
Matthew 6:14 states a straightforward but weighty principle: God's forgiveness of us is connected to our willingness to forgive others. In plain language, Jesus is saying that if you extend forgiveness to people who have wronged you, your Father in heaven will extend forgiveness to you as well. It is a conditional statement, and the condition runs in a particular direction—our forgiving comes first, and it opens the way for us to receive forgiveness from God.
This verse comes immediately after the Lord's Prayer, which Jesus taught his disciples as part of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6:9-13). Within that prayer is the line, "forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors." Matthew 6:14 and the verse that follows it (6:15) function as Jesus's own commentary on that single petition, showing how seriously he wants his listeners to grasp it. The Sermon on the Mount as a whole was addressed to Jesus's disciples and the crowds following him, teaching them what life in God's kingdom looks like—not just external behavior but the condition of the heart. Forgiveness of others was not a peripheral issue for Jesus; he singled it out from the whole prayer for further explanation, indicating how central it is to authentic discipleship.
Theologically, this verse teaches that forgiveness is not meant to be a one-way transaction we receive from God while withholding it from others. Having received mercy, we are expected to become conduits of that same mercy. This does not mean that our forgiving others earns or purchases God
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