Luke 17: 3-4
3 So watch yourselves. “If your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them.
4 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 first part of the passage, “So watch yourselves.” is talking about personal accountability which is self-awareness of my own behaviors and my possible influence over others.
Then, the passage goes into the importance of forgiveness. I truly forgive others for the hurt they’ve caused me. I hope I can also be forgiven for my mistakes and my wrongdoings. No one is perfect!
Furthermore, I have faith that God’s watching us all and I believe in praying for those I need to forgive. Please pray for me that I too get forgiven by those whom I have wronged.
Forgiving others will help me find peace within myself, is an important part of letting go, and is meaningful to my mental health. Forgiving others is not for the other person but for me. I am a firm believer of “Let go, Let God!”.
Likewise, some may call it “Karma”, and that what you do will come back to you. Whatever term or belief system you have, the idea is still the same. As for me, I believe in God & Christ.
In particular, Merriam-webster’s dictionary defines “rebuke” as an expression of strong disapproval or criticism.
Having a strong disapproval of the mistakes or wrongdoing a person caused is not condemning the person. The action of the person is being condemned but not the person themself.
Additionally, forgiving someone does not mean I’m okay with what they did or that I will forget what they did. Forgiving them means I will not allow what happened to affect me any longer.
Aside from this, the words “brother or sister” can refer to anybody, not literally just your brother or sister. Just like with Love Thy Neighbor, that word neighbor doesn’t mean literally the people on your street where you live, but is referring to all the people of the world; friends, family, and even strangers are your neighbors.
Thanks for reading!
The version of the Bible I’m currently reading from is the New International Version but read whichever version you connect with and understand the best.
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