All sorts of things happen in life that can cause us to stumble. Naturally we should seek to avoid them, but inevitably we will not always succeed. The thing that we should be most concerned about is whether or not we cause others to stumble. Jesus gives a very severe warning about this, urging us to take all steps possible to avoid doing this.
Jesus then turns to the matter of dealing with those who sin against us. His command has two sides to it, rebuking others and forgiving them. Most of us don't like doing either. We want to avoid confrontation and would far rather sweep something under the carpet, or hold a grudge against someone. It seems a lot easier to do that, but it is not the Jesus way. Now we must not go to the other extreme. This does not mean we should make a big issue out of every little offence. Proverbs 19:11 says it is to a man's glory to overlook an offence. many things should just be brushed off and forgotten about, but when something serious arises we need to follow the instructions here.
Moreover, we are to forgive repeatedly. Notice also that this is if they repent. If someone refuses to admit they are in the wrong when they clearly are (and it is not just us who think they are), then we must not hold a grudge against them, but we must also recognise that forgiveness is a two way process. One person has to repent, the other has to forgive.
The apostles saw that this requires great faith. Jesus gave a surprising answer. They only need a little faith. We need to focus on using the faith that we have, rather than moaning about our lack of faith.
Finally Jesus tells his disciples not to be proud of their service of the Lord. We are to serve the Lord without continually looking for appreciation.
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