Forgive Our Sins as We Forgive

Hymn lyrics and .mp3 Download

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  Forgive Our Sins as We Forgive (.midi)
  Forgive Our Sins as We Forgive (.mp3)
  Forgive Our Sins as We Forgive Bells Version (.mp3)

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Text to this hymn is not available at this site

Words by: Rosamond E. Herklots
Music by: Supplement to Kentucky Harmony

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Story of the hymn Forgive Our Sins as We Forgive

The hymn "Forgive Our Sins as We Forgive" was written in June 1966 by Rosamond E. Herklots (1905–1987), an English poet, teacher, and medical secretary. The story behind the hymn is deeply rooted in a simple, everyday chore that turned into a profound spiritual metaphor.

The Inspiration: Weeds and Resentment

The idea for the hymn came to Herklots while she was doing yard work in a long-neglected garden belonging to her nephew, a church curate in Stoke Damerel, Devonport.

As she was digging up deeply rooted weeds (specifically docks) with her fork and trowel, she observed how their tangled roots were choking the life out of the surrounding flowers. She realized that human bitterness, hatred, and resentment function in exactly the same way. She later wrote about the experience: "I came to feel that deeply-rooted resentments in our lives would destroy every Christian virtue and all joy and peace unless, by God's grace, we learned to forgive."

This realization inspired her to write a hymn focusing on the second, often overlooked, half of the forgiveness petition in the Lord's Prayer. While many hymns focus entirely on God's forgiveness of human sin, Herklots wanted to emphasize the difficult Christian responsibility of extending that same forgiveness to others.

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