Drop the legalism and start forgiving one another…!

Luke 17: 1-5 says, “He said to His disciples, “It is inevitable that stumbling blocks come, but woe to him through whom they come! “It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea, than that he would cause one of these little ones to stumble. “Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. “And if he sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.”

Observation: One of the most famous passages in the Bible for Christians because we are so fearful that we could cause another “little one” (child in the faith) to sin. It says that if we, Christ’s disciples, were to do such a thing, it would be better for us to die prior to causing a child in the faith to sin than actually causing them to “stumble.” But look at the passage immediately following: If someone sins against us we are too essentially forgive them every time they ask. I’m not going into a long observation about the first part of this passage (causing someone to stumble) because that is not the point of my SOAP. It is the second part I want to apply to my life.

Application: I have been a Christian for 25 years. I have heard time and time again that if I cause someone to stumble, I will be in a heap of trouble. I have heard it in sermons, books, and other Christians. reminding me. As a matter of fact, we get so stinking legalistic that we as Christians monitor each other as to make sure we don’t cause someone else to stumble. If I stub my toe and say the “S” word, and another child in the faith hears me, maybe I cause them to sin?! Point is we get consumed with this passage. BUT LOOK AT THE FOLLOWING 2 VERSES!!!! Vs. 3-4 says that if someone sins, rebuke them (correct them) and if they repent, FORGIVE them. And if they do it again…forgive them again. But why don’t we talk about this passage as much as the 2 verses prior? I think because it is easier for me to make sure I don’t cause someone to stumble than it is to be like Christ as forgive them over and over if necessary. We (I) am good at holding a grudge and not forgiving if I feel that I am sinned against. But Jesus tells me to forgive them, again, and again, and again. Legalism is always easier because it is a set of standards that we try to hold against one another. But forgiveness can only be done by the one who invented it…Jesus!

Prayer: God, take away my legalistic tendencies and let me be like Jesus…full or forgiveness, mercy, and grace. Because I received it from him, so I should give it!