"Where Ministry Is A Priority"

 

 Part 1 : FORGIVENESS - THE PATTERN

In Luke 17:3-4, Jesus gave His disciples a pattern for forgiving those who sinned against them. He said,"If your brother sins against you, rebuke him: and if he repents, forgive him. 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" (v v.3-4).
There are five parts of the pattern of forgiveness that Jesus outlined:

ONE : The Offense

What is the offense or sin committed against us that Jesus told us to respond to? While He was not specific, we must remember that sin can be defined as any failure to love. On another occasion, Jesus summed up our entire obligationto God and to one another as a debt of love (Matt. 22:37-40). Paul did the same when he said, "Owe no one anything except to love one another" (Rom. 13:8).

If we were to identify the sin of Luke 17:3-4, as any violation of love, that would raise questions. Was Jesus teaching us to comfort one another for every failure to love? Or is he teaching us to deal with violations of love which, if not dealt with, would damage the relationship and cause us to become uncaring about the interests of the offending party?

If our understanding of patient, Christ-like love tells us that Jesus was speaking of significant offenses, we need to be careful that we do not close our eyes to sin that are more serious than we want to believe. By nature, we all have an unlimited capacity for rationalization. We all are inclined to minimize the cancerous impact that everyday offenses have on ourselves, and our relationship.

Sin is an ongoing problem that erodes the trust and intimacy for which we were made. Forgiveness, threrfore, is an ongoing necessity for dealing with our sins against one another. Not only do we need to forgive, but, we ourselves need to be forgivin by those we have harmed.

"When you open your heart to the Savior, He opens your mind to the word."

"Almighty God, we commend to your gracious care and keeping all the men and women of our armed forces at home and abroad. Defend them day by day with your heavenly grace; strengthen them in their trials and temptations; give them courage to face the perils which beset them; and grant them a sense of your abiding presence wherever they may be; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."

Ian Moore  - Marines - Iraq

Joann James - Navy  - Guam

Cle Hollingsworth - Army - Iraq

DeMArco Morgan - Airforce - Germany

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