The God Who Gives Grace
“And if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.” (Luke 17:4, ESV)
Main Point: God provides the grace we need to forgive, even when our own reserves run dry.
As we conclude this week of reflection on forgiveness, we return to the central challenge: forgiving those who repeatedly hurt us. But now we see it through the lens of God’s abundant provision. Like Habakkuk, who declared “The Lord God is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer’s; he makes me tread on my high places” (Habakkuk 3:19), we can trust that God will provide supernatural strength for supernatural commands.
The beautiful truth is that we are not left to forgive from our own limited reserves of patience and goodwill. God’s grace is so abundant that there will always be overflow—enough for us to receive forgiveness for our own failures and enough to share with others who need forgiveness from us.
This is particularly hope-giving when we recognize our own failures to forgive. Perhaps this very week you’ve found yourself responding with “Then stop it!” instead of grace. Perhaps you’ve held onto resentment, kept score of wrongs, or let bitterness take root. The good news is that even our failures to forgive are covered by God’s grace.
We have a heavenly Father who is always eager to forgive us, who provides fresh mercy each morning, who gives us the very grace we need to extend to others. The forgiveness we offer is never our own—it’s always God’s forgiveness flowing through us.
In Christ, forgiveness isn’t an impossible burden but a natural overflow of the grace we’ve received. When we fail—and we will—God’s grace is sufficient. When we succeed in forgiving—we do so only by His strength.
Reflection: God’s abundant grace provides both forgiveness for our failures and strength for our obedience. How has this week’s study changed my understanding of forgiveness? Where do I need to trust God’s grace—either to receive forgiveness or extend it?
Prayer: Gracious Father, thank You for Your abundant grace that covers my failures and empowers my obedience. May Your forgiveness flow through me to others this week. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Responses