10/27- Monday Luke 17:3-4 3So watch yourselves. “If your
brother or sistera sins against you, rebuke them; and
if they repent, forgive them. 4Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times
come back to you saying ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them.”
Bonhoeffer:
“In confession the break through to community takes place. Sin demands to have a man by himself. It
withdraws him from the community. The
more isolated a person is, the more destructive will be the power of sin over
him, and the more deeply he becomes involved in it, the more disastrous the
isolation.”
Thoughts:
Forgiveness is the means to restoration from isolation. Jesus knew this and was willing to encourage
us to forgive again and again and again and again and again and again and again
in order for us to restore our love for the other person. The point is not the number seven as opposed to eight, but the spirit of
forgiveness and the cost of abuse paid by the one taking advantage of
forgiveness. Forgiveness always costs
something. It may cost our pride; it may
cost giving up something to the other person who took what was not theirs; it
may mean giving up our reputation to the Lord to someone who sullied it; it may
mean turning the other cheek. The
ultimate price paid for forgiveness is the cross of Christ.
Prayer:
Help me, O Lord, to be willing to pay the cost of forgiveness. Help me to bear my cross as I forgive another
today.
Mission:
Who has a grudge against you today? Who
must you forgive in your heart today?
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