Luke 17:3 & 10 –
<3>So watch yourselves! “If another believer sins, rebuke that person; then if there is repentance, forgive.”
<10>”In the same way, when you obey me you should say, ‘We are unworthy servants who have simply done our duty.’”
These are two very important concepts here to dwell on. The first is forgiveness and what is expected of us. Think about it, this is a major aspect in our “walk” that few want to address. The Lords Pray from Matthew 6 verse 12 says it all … “and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us.” Think about what these two prayers are saying. We are asking God to forgive our sins and wash away all unrighteousness, but we rarely do the same for others.
With our children this is easy, but how about with the neighbor who slanders you behind your back then apologizes? How about with the thief who robs you and then apologizes? How about the murderer who has remorse? Can you forgive? Now one thing I question we are asked my many to forgive no matter what, but this verse says rebuke until they repent. So technically you are not required to forgiveness until that person repents. Now does that mean hold on to bitterness? No, I try to forgive and let go, but I remember so not to be “tricked” again.
Now the second concept from this chapter is verse 10, which I snuck in here for a reason. This is the lack of “entitlement” from doing our “duty”. If you read this in context you see we are to work for God like slaves, without expectation of “blessing” or table scraps. No we just work and do what is necessary to honor our God. The key here is “expectation” for rewards because of our hard work. Fortunately our relationship is more of a father/child and less a master/slave type.
Think about it the two actually tie together a bit. You have a contrast between our expectations and God’s expectations. We expect to be forgiven, where God expects us to forgive. We expect rewards, where God expects humble service. The key is taking the thinking away from self and shift it more to God’s way. This actually works in with the other verse I wanted to use, verse 33 which says “If you cling to your life, you will lose it, and if you let your life go, you will save it.” If you cling to resentment and entitlement and you will lose, where if you cling to forgiveness and humble service you win!