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How to Forgive By Faith
Jesus said, "If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to
this mulberry tree, 'Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in
the sea,' and it would obey you" (Luke 17:6).
Wait a minute--did I get the right verse for this topic? What do
mustard seeds and mulberry trees have to do with learning how to
forgive?
Quite a lot, actually. Earlier, Jesus had been talking about
offenses and how to deal with them:
"Take heed to yourselves. 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" (Luke
17:3-4).
Now, people dont generally mind rebuking a brother. In fact, it
comes quite naturally (at least in our fallen human nature). But
when Jesus said to rebuke, it wasnt a license to act mean and
nasty, or to be self-satisfied, which often seems to be what we
mean by "rebuke"--when someone offends us, we want to "tell them
off."
Thats not what Jesus was talking about. Yes, there are times
when we must deal seriously with a matter, and we should never
back down from that. But we must always be careful to do it in
love, seeking the good of the other person involved.
We dont mind repentance, either, as long as it is somebody else
who is doing it. If someone offends us, and then comes back and
apologizeswell, we can often just go ahead and let it go, and
it makes us feel, you know, sort of magnanimous. (We have a
nasty habit of making everything about us, dont we? Its the
fallen nature again.)
But seven times in one day? Thats pushing it. I mean, how much
of this treatment are we supposed to take? Plus, its one thing
The Fatum BankFIRST LOVE RECOVERY MINISTRIES THE FATUM BANK 2 Peter 1:3-4(KJV) "According as his ..... when they offend us, and then they repent. What about when they
dont repent? Are we still supposed to forgive?
Yes.
In another place, Jesus said, "Whenever you stand praying, if
you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father
in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses" (Mark 11:25). No
repentance mentioned here, not even a hint. Just forgive.
Okay, that really tests our limits now, doesnt it? But were
not in bad company, because it tested the disciples as well.
When Jesus told them to forgive the brother seven times, the
disciples suddenly became aware of a great inadequacy in
themselves, particularly in their faith.
The apostles-thats what Luke calls them at this point-said to
Jesus, "Increase our faith" (Luke 17:5). Yeah, if they were
Unholy Shadows: GnosticismOne cannot begin to appreciate the early struggles of Christianity for existence without at least a rudimentary knowledge of ..... going to have to offer this kind of forgiveness, they were
really going to need to reckon with their faith.
You see, like everything else in the Christian life, forgiveness
is a matter of faith. For when we forgive an offense, we are
giving up something. Will God "make up the difference" for us?
It takes faith to trust Him to do that.
So Jesus began talking about mustard seeds and mulberry trees:
If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this
Learning My Child's WayHome schooling. What is it? What does it mean to you? How do you home school? These were just some of ..... mulberry tree, Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the
sea, and it would obey you (Luke 17:6).
Faith is like a mustard seed, and like a mustard seed, it must
be planted to do any good. The size of the seed is not
important. What you do with it is. But how do you plant the
"seed" of faith?
Jesus tells us: "Say to this mulberry tree, 'Be pulled up by the
roots and be planted in the sea,' and it will obey you."
Ah, yes. You plant your faith "seed" by what you say. It is the
What Is Coaching?Recently, I have received several emails asking me about coaching and what it is ..... same way with forgiveness. Forgiveness requires faith, and faith
is a seed that you plant by what you say.
So the way you forgive is to say, by faith, "I forgive." When
you do that, you may not, at first, even feel like you have
forgiven at all. You may even feel anger rising up again because
of the offense. Never mind that. You must cease from being moved
by your feelings and continue to stand with your faith: "I
forgive." As often as the offense comes to mind, and as often as
feelings of anger rise up, reassert your faith: "I forgive."
As you take your stand in faith and forgive, you will eventually
find that the offense has been uprooted from your life. It is no
longer chained to you-you have released it by faith. It is no
longer a stumbling block for you-you have removed it by faith.
It has been cast into the sea, by faith. Now you are free to
move forward in your life.
2005 by Jeff Doles
About the author:
Jeff Doles is the author of "Praying With Fire: Learning to Pray
With Apostolic Power" and "Healing Scriptures and Prayers." He
and his wife Suzanne are the founders of Walking Barefoot
Ministries. For more faith-building articles, or more
information about this ministry, visit their website at
www.walkingbarefoot.com. Also visit their blog, The Faith Log at
faithlog.blogspot.com.
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