Not Offending, but Forgiving
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Bible Verses~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Luke 17:1 And He said to His disciples, It is impossible for
causes of stumbling not to come, but woe to him through whom
they come. (2) It is more profitable for him if a millstone is
put around his neck and he is hurled into the sea than to
stumble one of these little ones. (3) Take heed to yourselves.
If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive
him. (4) And if he sins against you seven times in a day and
turns again to you seven times, saying, I repent, you shall
forgive him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Words of Ministry~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In the church life, the church service, and the Lord's ministry
it is a very serious thing to offend others. Sometimes it seems
that we can accomplish a great deal. Nevertheless, we may tear
down more than we build up. This is the result of stumbling
others. When I was young I was given the following admonition:
"Don't do the Lord's work in such a way that you build up one
foot and then tear down a foot and a half." According to this
admonition, it is possible for us first to build up and then to
tear down more than what we have built up. We need to learn from
this not to stumble others and thereby tear down what has been
built up. We always need to be careful and cautious not to hurt
others, not to offend others, and not to stumble others.
If we are offended by someone, we need to be ready and willing
to forgive that one. Then we shall not have problems with
others. To forgive means not to be offended. According to the
Lord's word in 17:4, even if a brother sins against us seven
times a day, we should always be ready to forgive him. As soon
as we forgive someone, we shall not be offended by him. But if
we do not forgive, we shall be offended. The point here is that
forgiving annuls offending.
Suppose a certain brother offends you, and you forgive him. Your
forgiving of him will annul his offending of you. Then there
will be no problem between you. However, suppose this brother
offends you, and you are not willing to forgive him and forget
the offense. This will cause trouble, especially to you, for you
will become entangled as the result of being offended. Hence, we
should avoid stumbling others, and we should also avoid being
offended by others. We should always be careful and cautious not
to offend others. At the same time, we should always be willing
to forgive others.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(c) 2007 Living Stream Ministry. Bible verses are taken from
the Recovery Version of the Bible (RcV) and Words of Ministry,
from Watchman Nee, Messages for Building Up New Believers, pp.
327-328. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim,
CA. (Repeat 2/25/02)
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