Under Gods Command
Luke 17:1-5 “Things that cause people to sin are bound to come, but woe to that person through whom they come. It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin. So watch yourselves. “If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, ‘I repent, ‘forgive him.”The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea, and it will obey you.
Jesus warned about God’s wrath for those who offend and abuse. How appropriate such a warning is in this day when corruption enters our homes every day in many television programs or on the internet. While Christians must guard against physical abuse, they also must be aware of and work against the mental and spiritual corruption that unfiltered television and internet surfing can bring.
To rebuke does not mean to point out every sin we see, it means to bring sin to a person’s attention with the purpose of restoring him or her to God and to fellow humans. When you feel you must rebuke another Christian for a sin, check your attitude before you speak. Do you love the person? Are you willing to forgive? Unless rebuke is tied to forgiveness’, it will not help the sinning person.
This was a hard one for the disciples; they wanted the faith necessary for such radical forgiveness. The amount of faith is not as important as its genuineness. Faith is not something we use to put on a show for others; it is complete and humble obedience to God’s will, readiness to do whatever he calls us to do. The amount of faith isn’t as important as the right kind of faith-faith in our all-powerful God.