Matthew 6:12 is a request in the Lord’s Prayer asking God to forgive our wrongs, on the condition that we also forgive the people who wrong us. Jesus taught it as part of his instruction on how his followers should pray, so the words are both a petition to God and a pattern for living. The verse speaks to disciples gathered on a hillside in Galilee, as recorded in the Gospel of Matthew.
Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors.
Matthew 6:12 (WEB)
What Matthew 6:12 Means
The word “debts” is a financial picture for sin. Jesus treats wrongdoing as something we owe to God, a balance we cannot pay off on our own. When we ask God to forgive our debts, we are admitting that we are in a position we cannot fix by ourselves and trusting his mercy to cancel what we owe.
The phrase “as we also forgive our debtors” is the part that makes the verse hard to read casually. The word “as” can mean “in the same way” or “to the same degree,” so Jesus is linking the forgiveness we receive with the forgiveness we extend. The verse does not claim that our forgiveness earns God’s forgiveness. Instead, it describes a heart that has been forgiven and therefore pardons others.
What the verse does not promise is that forgiving others will be easy, or that the other person will change or apologize. It describes an attitude God wants to shape in his people, not a reward system. Matthew 6:14 and 6:15 expand on this link, and the wider teaching of Jesus treats forgiveness as a practice that grows over time.
The Context of Matthew 6:12
The Gospel of Matthew is traditionally attributed to Matthew, a former tax collector who became one of Jesus’ twelve disciples. It was written mainly for a Jewish-Christian audience, and it presents Jesus as the teacher who fulfills and interprets the Law. The Sermon on the Mount, in chapters 5 through 7, is where Jesus lays out the character and practices of the kingdom of heaven.
Just before verse 12, Jesus teaches his disciples to pray for God’s name to be honored, his kingdom to come, and his will to be done, then to ask for daily bread. Verse 12 follows naturally from that. Right after the prayer, Jesus adds that forgiving others is tied to being forgiven by the Father. Read in that setting, the verse is not a stand-alone rule but part of a whole picture of a life oriented toward God and shaped by his generosity.
Key Phrases in Matthew 6:12
Matthew 6:14
“For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
(WEB)
Matthew 6:14 comes immediately after the Lord’s Prayer and explains the connection Jesus draws between forgiving others and receiving the Father’s forgiveness. Reading it alongside verse 12 helps clarify that the link Jesus describes is about the shape of a forgiven life, not a transaction.
Ephesians 4:32
And be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving each other, just as God also in Christ forgave you.
(WEB)
Paul writes to the church in Ephesus, urging believers to be kind and forgiving because God forgave them in Christ. This verse echoes the logic of Matthew 6:12, grounding human forgiveness in the mercy God has already shown, and it gives practical shape to what it looks like in daily relationships.
A Short Prayer From Matthew 6:12
Father in heaven, I come to you aware of the debts I carry before you. I have sinned in thought, word and deed, and I cannot erase what I owe. Thank you that you offer forgiveness to those who ask. Please cancel what I owe and cleanse my conscience. Where I am holding onto hurt from others, soften my heart and help me release those debts as you have released mine. Teach me to live as someone who has been forgiven much. Amen.
