Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him. And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him. And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith. - Luke 17:3-5 Here we find, in the teachings of Christ, a profound lesson concerning forgiveness toward a brother. We will certainly offend one another from time to time, but how we handle the offender reveals our own level of faith. We do need to rebuke them, otherwise they may never know that they offended is. However, we are to forgive the offender when they repent, and as stated in verse 4, when they say they repent, regardless to how many times a day they trespass against us, or how convinced we are that their repentance is genuine. This is very difficult to do, and an area where we all fall short. We fell short, even while raising our children. We use to tell our sons: If you were really sorry you wouldnt do it again and again. This revealed a shortcoming in our own faith. You see, our relationship with God is based upon our faith in His forgiveness of our sins... ALL of them! When we trespass against Him, he doesnt just stop forgiving us, no matter how many times, if we come to Him in repentance, and He doesnt hold it against us: If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. - 1 John 1:9. How would we feel if God treated us how we treat others? How would we feel if God held our past trespasses over our heads, or rubbed our faces in them each time we mess up? Brethren, that unforgiving spirit we tend to yield to is due to a lack of our own faith, as evidenced by the Apostles response LORD, increase our faith. We too ought to pray thus! Oh LORD, help us to be more like You! Increase our Faith!
Posted on: Sat, 18 Oct 2014 18:52:41 +0000
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