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A FORGIVING HEART (II)
WEDNESDAY, MAY 5
Luke 17:3-4

Galatians 6:1-5

 

“If thy brother trespass against thee,

rebuke him…”

 

A FORGIVING HEART (II)
 
It behoves us briefly to consider, then, just what a forgiving heart is; how we can cultivate such a heart; and what fruit we may expect to be produced from this effort ‒ the properties of a forgiving heart; the progress of developing it in ourselves, and the products we will then enjoy in our lives.
 
Properties. In the first place, we must recognise that a forgiving heart is not one that is entirely ignorant of sin, or careless in attitude towards sin. Speaking to His disciples, the Lord Jesus commanded, “If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him” (Luke 17:3). The first part of this command has much to teach us about the nature of forgiveness.
 
There are some who think that “forgiveness” means simply ignoring wrongdoing ‒ saying nothing at all when one is sinned against. To such people, a rebuke is itself a trespass; and the one who gives a rebuke, in their eyes, manifests an unforgiving spirit. But note what the Lord says here! The charge is not, “If thy brother trespass against thee, ignore it”! We are not dealing here with the hostility of an unbeliever, whom we cannot expect fully to understand the seriousness of sin, and to whom we must prayerfully preach the gospel: this is a trespass committed by a “brother.” No, dear reader, sin is not something to take lightly, especially not in the life of a Christian. A forgiving heart will move us to rebuke our brother, precisely because we desire him to repent, that he may be forgiven by God and man!
 
Yet we must also be careful, and apply the warnings and exhortations we find elsewhere in Scripture as well. Even as we recognise the trespass of a brother, we ought to remind ourselves, “Why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?” (Matt 7:3). Or as the Apostle Paul puts it, “Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted” (Gal 6:1).
 
THOUGHT: Forgiveness does not mean taking sin lightly.
PRAYER: Father, grant me wisdom to understand forgiveness.

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