Luke 17 And he said to his disciples, “Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come! 2 It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin. 3 Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, 4 and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”
We live in an "It's all about me" world. So did Jesus. In the passage before this one He was talking about the rich man who had totally ignored poor Lazarus as he starved in front of his house. Jesus says: "Yes, you do need to look out for number one, for yourself. You need to see how the way you live affects others. You need to look out for others physically and spiritually. And you need to learn how to forgive. Because even though failing to forgive others is worse on you, it also has a negative effect on them - it brings them grief that is unnecessary." So, let's look out for number one. Not like the rich man did, but in a way that shows our lives do make a difference - to God and others around us. Let us not be selfish with our resources, our encouraging words, or our forgiveness.
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