“And if the same person sins against you seven times a day and turns back to you seven times and says, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive.” Luke 17:1-6
Full Scripture Reading: Luke 17: 1-6
Today’s Thought:
“I am sorry.” So often it is the most difficult three word phrase. Forgiveness often doesn’t feel like the “natural” thing to do. How do we forgive when we don’t feel like forgiving? It must be an act of faith. Jesus is asking us to forgive, so we know it’s possible. We don’t need to justify what the other person has done. In fact, we can admit the other person’s wrongdoing, but in faith, we can release them from our judgment and entrust that part to God. In the same ways we trust God for healing and provision, we can trust God to give us the grace to forgive.
When forgiveness doesn’t come easy or quickly, it begins to take over and dominate the rest of our lives. Everything about a person whom we have not released is colored with bitter strokes until our foundations are destroyed. We are the ones who pay the biggest price for not forgiving. But Jesus tells us that with just a teeny seed of faith, we can throw this unforgiveness into the sea of God’s mercy. God shows us that forgiveness is possible with the Holy Spirit’s help when Jesus modeled just exactly what that looks like on the cross.
In Luke 17, Jesus commands us to forgive one another even if another person sins against you seven times a day. Does forgiveness come easy? Are you selective with your forgiveness? Have you ever experienced a growth in your faith when forgiving others happens?
Today’s Prayer:
Let us pray.
Lord, we lift up our lives to you knowing that we need you in every part of our life. We need you as we continue to grow in your word, in your service, in your hope of how we can love our neighbors each and every day. Lord, we pray that you would help us to be quick to forgive. Help us to forgive in those difficult situations when we need a little extra grace. Provide us faith the size of a mustard seed to forgive those who wronged us. Grow us faithfully to love as you do, unconditionally and always with hope in what is to come! We lift this prayer to you, and all God's People Said, AMEN.
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