Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him –
Luke 17:3
Because God forgives us when we sin, He commands us to also forgive others who sin against us. Forgiving others can be very difficult for us – especially when the offence against us caused a lot of pain and hurt.Luke 17:3
There are times when we even doubt the sincerity of the one who is asking for our forgiveness because they keep making the same mistakes again and again. We may say, “If he was really sincere he wouldn’t have done it again and again.”
The truth is that, sometimes people can be sincere and yet not have the discipline to overcome a habit they know is wrong. Let me ask you a simple question: Have you ever had a hateful thought? Did you repent? Were you sincere? If your answer is ‘yes’, are you saying that you will never again have a hateful thought? I am sure your answer to that will be, ‘no’. The truth is that all of us struggle with sin even after we repent—and sometimes we have to keep coming back again and again for forgiveness. In the same way God demands that we keep forgiving those who sin against us. It is tough but that is God’s way.
The offer of forgiveness, however, is not a licence for us to sin against God or for people to offend us and wilfully treat us with disrespect. Sin must be rebuked and corrected because it is destructive. As we forgive those who offend us continuously, we must be wise not to place ourselves in a position where they are capable of harming us.
