Scripture - Luke 17:3-4 Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. 4 And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you, saying, 'I repent,' you shall forgive him."
Observation - Forgiveness is something that we all need to understand. Jesus was teaching here the capacity to forgive. He said that if your brother comes to you seven times in a day and repents, then forgive him. The concept is that there is no maximum number of tries that a person gets. We are not to be limited on our forgiveness, no matter the number of times someone disappoints us. Jesus said to keep forgiving - no matter how many times they sin against you. No matter how much they talk about you, no matter how many times they are rude to you, forgive them if they ask forgiveness.
Application - Some of us keep track of the offenses. We keep track of the amount of times that we have forgiven someone and if they get to the place that they are maxed out on offenses, they are done. We toss them out like an old pair of shoes and don't allow them to be restored in our lives. People are too valuable for that mode of operation. Relationships are too valuable to be tossed aside. We need not think of people as expendable, but as valuable and a blessing in our life. People will make mistakes and will need forgiveness - as the people of God let's be quick to forgive.
Prayer - Father make me quick to forgive and even quicker to forget. Father so many will disappoint, but help me to overlook the disappointment and see the hands of grace you have for them.
Observation - Forgiveness is something that we all need to understand. Jesus was teaching here the capacity to forgive. He said that if your brother comes to you seven times in a day and repents, then forgive him. The concept is that there is no maximum number of tries that a person gets. We are not to be limited on our forgiveness, no matter the number of times someone disappoints us. Jesus said to keep forgiving - no matter how many times they sin against you. No matter how much they talk about you, no matter how many times they are rude to you, forgive them if they ask forgiveness.
Application - Some of us keep track of the offenses. We keep track of the amount of times that we have forgiven someone and if they get to the place that they are maxed out on offenses, they are done. We toss them out like an old pair of shoes and don't allow them to be restored in our lives. People are too valuable for that mode of operation. Relationships are too valuable to be tossed aside. We need not think of people as expendable, but as valuable and a blessing in our life. People will make mistakes and will need forgiveness - as the people of God let's be quick to forgive.
Prayer - Father make me quick to forgive and even quicker to forget. Father so many will disappoint, but help me to overlook the disappointment and see the hands of grace you have for them.
