Luke 17:5 (ESV)
The apostles said to the Lord,
“Increase our faith!”
Jesus had just told his disciples
to forgive repeatedly and completely. Their response?
“Increase our faith.” Forgiveness is hard. It doesn’t make sense. God is
telling us to forgive like he forgives. How many times a day can we say to God,
“I was wrong. I sinned. My actions or thoughts were offensive,” and expect God
to forgive? Confession receives forgiveness according to 1 John 1:9. Jesus is
asking us to forgive like he forgives. How in the world am I supposed to do
that?
That kind of forgiveness takes
faith. But here is the thing. Forgiveness takes faith, but not faith in the one
I’m forgiving. Jesus answered in the next verse, “If you had faith like a grain
of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted
in the sea,’ and it would obey you.” In other words, the quantity of our faith
is not the important thing. The object of our faith is what matters. Forgiveness
doesn’t require us to trust the one we are forgiving. It requires that we trust
God.
Additionally, notice that Jesus
didn’t say, “If your brother confesses his sin, you must forgive him.” He said,
“If your brother says, ‘I repent’ you must forgive him.” Repentance doesn’t
mean an abuser crying and saying, “I won’t do it again.” Repentance is not
groveling. Repentance means a change of mind that leads to a change of action. But
even then, it is hard for us to lay aside our bitterness and our incessant need
for them to be punished. That takes faith in someone bigger than our offender.
That takes faith in God.
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