Forgiveness | April 23
Forgiveness: Fence Dumping Day
Luke 17:
April 23, 2023
Luke 17:1-6 (New King James) 1 Then He said to the disciples, “It is impossible that no
offenses should come, but woe to him through whom they do come! 2 It would be better
for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea, than
that he should offend one of these little ones. 3 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.”5 And the apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.” 6 So the Lord 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
Verse 1a. 1 Then He said to the disciples, “It is impossible that no offenses should come
Jesus did not say it is impossible not to be offended but that it is impossible not to be
confronted with the opportunity to be offended.
What are common characteristics of effective traps?
Camouflage. They blend into surroundings.
Placement. They are placed in familiar and frequented places.
Bait. They are baited with appealing food.
Proverbs 18:8 (NIV) The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down to the
inmost parts.
Picking up offences feed something inside of us, usually some insecurity that we haven’t
identified or mastered.
Any picked up offence inadvertently identifies a crack/breach/weakness in my identity in
Christ and my value in Christ.
In addition to wanting to take you out of shalom and impeding your spiritual effectiveness.
Satan continually sets these traps to erode your God given value and identity
Satan has proven to be susceptible to not seeing a win coming out of a loss.
Verse 1b, 2. but woe to him through whom they do come! 2 It would be better for him if a
millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea, than that he should
offend one of these little ones.
Jesus is fiercely protective of His children. Jesus’ intense feeling about the trapper reflects
how intensely He feels about you!
Two reasons Christians should be the most difficult group of people to offend:
Our wholeness and identity are found in Jesus not in what others, think, feel or say
about us.
We should be able to see past the offensive person to the Satanic instigator behind
it.
Verse 3a. Practices. Take heed to yourselves.
You need my help to not make decisions out of the pain.
You need my help to not be defined by the pain.
You need my resources to be whole from the pain.
And mostly you need my help to forgive the perpetrator of the pain…
Verse 3b – 4 …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.”
Glass Board Notes
Never be afraid of the repercussions of telling the truth in love. One of those repercussions
is freedom.
Forgiveness is given, trust is earned.
Verse 5 - 6. And the apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.” 6 So the Lord 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.”
Forgiveness doesn’t take tree sized faith it, it takes seed size faith. And seed sized faith has
the power to uproot offenses taken.
Mustard Seed/Tree Facts
The mustard seed is less than 2 mm in size.
A mustard tree can grow between 20-30 feet in height.
A mustard tree canopy coverage could be as wide as the tree is tall.
A mustard tree can grow to those dimensions in 80-90 days.
The mustard tree produces fruit as early as 6 weeks.
The mustard tree is extremely resilient and adaptable. Early care with weekly
watering encourages roots that are deep-penetrating and water-seeking.
Extracts from the plant are widely used in toothbrushes due to the tree’s
antibacterial properties which come in handy preventing plaque (stuff that wants to
stick to your life and discolor you).
The fruit and seeds are also consumed as nutrient supplements believed to help with
hypertension, migraines, rheumatism and asthma.
Faith starts small but can grow deep and fast. Even a young nurtured faith can root out
longer standing hurt, bitterness and unforgiveness.
Jesus’ chastisement over the disciples “little faith” isn’t a critique of their faith volume but
their faith usage.
• Every act of forgiveness begins with a decision, not a feeling.
• Forgiveness begins with understanding God’s provision for it and His call to do it.
• Give your heart time and it will catch up to your head.
Response: Its fence dumping day!