It’s easy to find excuses not to forgive a wrong. They haven’t changed. It’s not fair. I can’t trust them. Jesus’s teaching on biblical forgiveness challenges every excuse we make for holding onto resentment with a warning and an instructive story.
What Jesus Teaches About Biblical Forgiveness in Luke 17
In Luke 17:1-10, Jesus warns against being a stumbling block and then proceeds to talk about forgiveness. I hadn’t connected holding onto unforgiveness with being a stumbling block, but Jesus’s warning makes sense.
If someone sins and asks for forgiveness, “Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them” (v. 4 NIV).
Believers are called to be ambassadors for Christ. If we can’t forgive, the offender may conclude God won’t forgive them either or that they don’t have what it takes to please God.
Or perhaps someone witnesses my continued bitterness and feels justified in their own. If it’s ok for believer Betty to hold onto resentment, it must be ok for me too.
Either way, I don’t want to be a stumbling block to someone’s relationship with God. Jesus adds, “It would be better … to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck than to cause one of these little ones to stumble. So watch yourselves” (vv. 2-3 NIV).
After Jesus said, “‘Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them.’ The apostles said to the Lord, ‘Increase our faith!’” (v. 4-5),
Here is where it gets sticky. Seven often symbolizes completeness in Scripture. In other words, no matter how often they sin against us and say, “I’m sorry, I forgot,” we must forgive them.
Maybe a coworker or family member came to mind as you read that, and you can relate to the apostles’ response: “Increase our faith!”
What kind of faith were they seeking?
Were they seeking faith:
- To believe Jesus understood the impossible standard He was setting?
- To believe He cared about the wrong committed against them?
- To trust that He had a good reason and wouldn’t let the wrong go on forever?
“Increase our faith,” sounds like a good request. But Jesus didn’t commend them. Instead, He said they only needed faith the size of a mustard seed. Then He amplified this truth with a cultural example.
Servants who labor all day in a field don’t return to their master and expect to be served. They prepare and serve their master’s meal. “Will he [the master] thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty’” (vv. 9-10).
My Takeaway
Forgiveness is hard because wounds are real. Jesus never minimized that. But He also knew that refusing to forgive damages more than relationships—besides making us miserable, it hinders spiritual growth, both ours and someone else’s.
That’s why forgiveness is ultimately not about great faith or good feelings. It’s about surrender.
We may not feel strong enough. The apostles didn’t either. But Jesus didn’t point them to greater feelings or perfect faith. He pointed them to simple obedience.
And when we obey Him, we can trust Him with our pain and the outcome.
Related Resource
My new book, Big Hurt, Bigger God: Finding Freedom Through Biblical Forgiveness, is now available for preorder. Because forgiveness can be complicated, more than half the book addresses discernment, boundaries, and responding wisely in painful relationships.
Blessings,
Forgiveness is ultimately not about great faith or good feelings. It’s about surrender. #forgiveness, #Luke17 Share on X
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A sobering reminder and very much appreciated Debbie.
Ann, I’m reminded of the carrot and the stick incentives. This is a sober reminder of what’s at stake.
Thank you for that, Debbie. I agree 100% – forgiveness is SO important and it’s the only way to be freed from the cage of bitterness that goes along with it. Freedom is found (for you) when you forgive. Going a step further, we also need to forgive those who do NOT ask for our forgiveness. You are primarily hurting your own self when you don’t forgive. It’s not easy, but ask God to help you forgive and He will. I did it and the freedom I experienced as a result of forgiving (when the person didn’t ask for forgiveness) is priceless!! Not to mention, it’s what God tells us to do. Go for it, my friend!!
You’re right. I use the acronym FREEDOM to outline Big Hurt, Bigger God. F tells why we forgive: “for our sake and for those we love.’
I will also add … forgiveness is for our own good as unforgiveness will keep us from growing in God.
I agree, 100%. Thanks, Joanne.
That’s such an important point that forgiveness isn’t based on feelings, but surrender, obedience, and faith. Too often we want to feel it first, but it doesn’t usually happen that way.
I actually find Jesus’ teaching liberating. As you say, my Lord, not my feelings, guides my response.