What Does God Say About Unforgiveness?

“For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”

Matthew 6:14-15

Jesus attaches these words directly to the Lord's Prayer, and forgiveness is the only line of that prayer He stops to explain. The math is uncomfortable on purpose. You cannot hold out an open hand for mercy while the other hand stays a fist. Forgiveness received and forgiveness given are one motion.

“Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.”

Matthew 18:21-22

Peter thought seven was generous, and by the standards of his day it was more than double the going rate. Jesus multiplied it past the point of counting. Seventy times seven is not an arithmetic target. It is a way of saying stop keeping score entirely. The ledger itself is the problem.

“And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”

Mark 11:25

Jesus puts forgiveness inside the act of prayer, not after it. When ye stand praying, forgive. The grudge surfaces the moment you try to talk to God, and that is no accident. He raises it because He wants it handed over, right there, mid-sentence.

“Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.”

Ephesians 4:31-32

Paul lists what unforgiveness becomes when it stays: bitterness, wrath, anger, clamour, evil speaking, malice. It does not sit still inside you. It ferments. His replacement is just as specific. Kindness, a tender heart, and a forgiveness modeled on the one God already extended to you.

“Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.”

Colossians 3:13

The word forbearing admits something honest: some people stay hard to live with. Paul never claims the quarrel was imaginary. He gives you the measure instead. As Christ forgave you. Whatever they owe you, it is smaller than what you were forgiven.

“Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven:”

Luke 6:37

Jesus links three releases in one breath. Stop judging, stop condemning, start forgiving, and watch the same grace circle back to you. This is not a transaction where you purchase God's mercy with yours. It is a current. Grace flows through open hands and stalls in closed ones.