"As We Forgive Others..."

And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone; so that your Father also who is in Heaven may forgive you your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your trespasses. (Mark 11:25-26)

Do you ever stop to think about the meaning behind the words in the Lord's Prayer? During Mass we pray, "... forgive us our trespasses as we forgive others who trespass against us." We are literally asking God to forgive us in the same manner as we forgive others. That kind of goes back to the Golden Rule. When I review some of the grudges I have held on to in the past and consider how I would feel about God holding similar grudges against myself, I begin to see how I need to focus more on the words "as we forgive others" rather than the "forgive us."