The parable of the Unforgiving Servant spells out in severe terms the necessity of forgiving those who wrong us “from the heart”. An issue that arises here is the very real difficulty people can have in bringing themselves to forgive.
struggle in faith
Difficult texts that say unexpected things are worth a harder look.
View post to subscribe to site newsletter.
The Christian faith frequently conflicts with current ideas. Given this has happened since Christianity’s inception, this should neither surprise nor dismay us. Rather, we should establish its difficult teachings in our hearts and minds so we can preserve them, present them, and faithfully pass them on.
It can be hard to really appreciate how challenging it is for some people to continue as Christians, and just how easy and attractive it is to simply tap out. Are we equipping people to process and understand these struggles well? Are we providing the support for them to hang in there while they do?
||Pastoral Passage|| Some people, like myself, are quite directly called into faith in God (or some aspect of Christian living or understanding) without personal difficulty, perhaps akin to the prior passage; Proverbs 1:20-23. Others, however, must struggle greatly and persevere in this struggle until they reach their object. This post discusses Proverbs 2:1-5, which encourages us to that struggle.
Chris Northcott 