1. Grace is the core that we continue to work out, so we can be transformed with Him in community. 2. The next exercise is actually tending to a wound.

Forgiveness: how we got it all wrong. a. Words b. It doesn’t matter. c. Denial d. Fatalism e. Amnesia f. Revenge g. Natural

Luke 17:1-3a  Jesus said to his disciples: “Things that cause people to stumble are bound to come, but woe to anyone through whom they come. It would be better for them to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck than to cause one of these little ones to stumble. So watch yourselves.

Luke 17:3b-4  “If your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them. 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.”

Luke 17:5-6  The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.

Luke 17:1-2  Jesus said to his disciples: “Things that cause people to stumble are bound to come, but woe to anyone through whom they come. It would be better for them to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck than to cause one of these little ones to stumble.

2. The next exercise is actually tending to a wound. 3. God holds us accountable for relational disrepair.

3. God holds us accountable for relational disrepair. 4. When the weight gets to be too much, I give up on my trainer.

Luke 17:3a  “So watch yourselves.”

4. When the weight gets to be too much, I give up on my trainer. 5. If I don’t forgive, I will become what I resent in the other person.

Luke 17:3b  “If your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them…”

5. If I don’t forgive, I will become what I resent in the other person. 6. It would help the entire world if we knew how to rebuke.

Luke 17:3c  “…and if they repent, forgive them.”

6. It would help the entire world if we knew how to rebuke. 7. If they have a change of heart, I get to release the power.

Luke 17:4  “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.”

7. If they have a change of heart, I get to release the power. 8. I need to be continually ready to forgive.

Luke 17:5  The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”

8. I need to be continually ready to forgive. 9. Real forgiveness is a God miracle.

Luke 17:6  He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.

9. Real forgiveness is a God miracle. 10. It’s not the amount of your faith; it’s about using what you have.

Colossians 3:12-14  Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

DO THIS AS EXERCISE 1. Forgive ASAP. 2. Forgive close to home. 3. Forgive graciously. 4. Forgive as much as you can. 5. Forgive because you can.