Forgiveness, Faith, and Serving God

Monday, April 27th, 2026

4:5 am

Good morning! Today I am in Luke 17:1-10. Jesus tells His disciples that there will always be temptations to sin, but sorrow awaits the one who does the tempting. He tells them it would be better for the tempter to have a millstone tied around his neck and thrown into the sea than to cause a little one to fall into sin, so He tells them to watch themselves. He tells them that if another believer sins, to rebuke that person, and if there is repentance, then to forgive them. He tells them that even if a person wrongs them several times a day, if they come back and ask for forgiveness, they should keep forgiving that person The apostles asked Jesus to show them how to increase their faith. He told them that if they have faith even as small as a mustard seed, they could tell a mulberry tree to be uprooted and thrown into the sea, it would obey them. Then He tells them when a servant comes in from plowing a field, the master tells him to prepare him a meal and serve him, then he can eat later. He does what he is told, and the master never thanks him for it. In the same way, when we obey God, we should say that we are unworthy servants who have simply done our duty.

We live in a fallen world, and everyday the enemy is tempting us. Trying to get us to fall and turn away from God into our own selfish desires. But with Jesus' help we can overcome that temptation. He gives us the strength to turn from that temptation and turn to Him. But He warns us against being the ones who do the tempting. That person's fate is not good. We must guard our hearts and minds from the enemy, not allowing the world to cause us to fall, but also not allowing the enemy a foothold in our lives that will cause us to tempt someone else into sinning. And if another believer sins, we must loving rebuke that sin. Helping them understand how the sin affects them and those around them, and be willing to forgive that person if and when they repent and ask for forgiveness.

None of us are perfect, and because we are tempted by the enemy daily, we have opportunities every day to mess up and stumble. But God loves us so much, He is willing to forgive us whenever we realize we have made a mistake, and we repent and turn back to Him. And if He is willing to keep forgiving us, we too must be willing to keep forgiving others if they ask for forgiveness. And there are many times, we may not even realized we have sinned, and we need other Christians that will lovingly correct us and show us why what we did is wrong. New believers need this help. They need people that will come alongside them and help them walk with God. And help them understand that they don't have to go through this life alone, that is the support we all need. And it only takes faith as small as a mustard seed to help us walk out what God is calling us to do. When we realize how much we need God, and how much He loves us, we are able to serve Him in whatever way He calls us to. Faith is complete and humble obedience to God's will, and readiness to do whatever He calls us to do. The amount of faith we have isn't as important as the right kind of faith - faith in our all-powerful God. Obedience is our duty as a believer.

Our service to God is not meaningless or useless. He needs His people to show His love to those around them. Forgiving others and pointing them to God. Our duty on this earth is to do whatever the Lord calls us to do and point others to Him, sharing His love with the world around us. The more we spend time with Him and His Word, He nourishes that seed of faith within us. Growing our faith more and more every single time.

Allow God to grow your faith, and give you the strength and boldness to stand up for Him and do what He has called you to. He needs you.