God's forgiveness of us is bound to our forgiveness of others. Jesus singles out this request in the Model Prayer and comments on it in Matthew 6:14-15: if we forgive men their trespasses, the Father will forgive us, but if we do not, neither will He forgive ours. The tenses in the request make the point clear. God's original forgiveness at justification is a single act of grace, but the forgiveness we extend is ongoing, as Luke's "we keep forgiving" shows. If we fail to reciprocate toward others, God may withhold His mercy from us. The Greek aphiēmi means to release, let go, leave behind, and leave alone, so forgiving means wholly removing the debt, never to revisit it. Forgiveness is also more than a legal transaction. We forgive the person, not just the infraction, seeking reconciliation as God reconciled us through Christ's blood. No justification exists for withholding forgiveness. Jesus told Peter to forgive up to seventy times seven, meaning without limit. In the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant, the king forgave a ten-thousand-talent debt, yet the servant refused to pardon a trifling one and was handed to the torturers until he paid everything. Jesus concludes that the Father will do the same to those who do not forgive a brother from the heart. Forgiving others reflects God's own compassion and is part of the godly character He is creating in us.