Daily Devotions
Forgiving the Weak
Title: Forgiving the Weak
Reading for April 18: 2 Kings 1-3
Weekly reading for April 15-21: Luke 15-19
And he said to his disciples, "Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come! It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin. Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, 'I repent,' you must forgive him."
Luke 17:1-4
Is there a relationship between the first half of this text (a warning to those who would cause "little ones" to sin) and the second half (an exhortation to forgive)?
I believe there is. Who is most likely to sin against you? It would be those who are weak spiritually. Who is most likely to sin against you "seven times in a day"? Again, it would be those who are weak.
Working with people who are coming out of slavery to sin can be frustrating. They make promises they don't keep. They betray your trust. They slip back into sins that are not only harmful to themselves but can be hurtful to those who love them.
Working with the weak means making yourself vulnerable. The temptation is to wash your hands of them when they let you down or frustrate you through their repeated sins. But before we do that, we need to consider the warning Jesus gives us here. We can't give up on them. To do so will not only cause them to lose their soul, it can cost us ours as well.
Father, give us your perfect patience and faithful love that we might continue to forgive and not grow weary in doing good.
