Posted July 23, 2025

Our Lord Jesus came into the world to live and die as the perfect substitute for Our sins. He came to suffer in our place for our mistakes, our missteps, so that we can enjoy peace, joy and happiness as God’s children. Jesus came to be our example of how to love and show love and forgiveness toward others. Scriptures from the Gospels of Matthew and Luke teach about the principle of living a life of forgiveness. Jesus says “If your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them" (Luke 17:3). This answers the question, “What would Jesus do?!” Jesus adds to this, saying, “Even if they sin against you 7 times in a day and 7 times come back to you saying, ‘I repent’, you must forgive them.” (v. 4). Matthew's gospel says to forgive “not just 7 times but 70 x 7” (17:22)

In his sermon “Uproot”, Bishop TD Jakes goes deeper into what Jesus is teaching His disciples. He says Jesus is teaching them, you Must let go of unforgiveness. Jakes interprets this kind of forgiveness as what MUST become as natural as breathing. Just as we inhale, we must exhale. As we exhale, we must inhale. If we don’t, we will die. When we hold on to unforgiveness, there is not room for anything to “move in” – no power, no deliverance, no blessings. And there is no "number" of times we are to forgive. The symbolism of how often to forgive is Jesus teaching about a lifestyle. What happens next is a response from the heart of human frailty. The disciples say, “Lord, Increase our faith!” (Luke 17:5)

Surely what Jesus is asking them to do is more than they can handle. To overlook being mistreated, overlook being offended, no matter how many times, even in one day, repeatedly, even by the same person, they're supposed to let it go! And their response, their request to Jesus is, “Help! Increase our faith!”

We learn about the “mustard seed” truth of faith in Matthew 17:20 when Jesus casts out a demon His disciples have been unable to, telling them, “If you have faith even as small as a tiny mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, 'Move!' and it would go far away, and nothing would be impossible”. This verse actually begins with Jesus saying, “Because of your unbelief....”. The Message Translation reads “Because you’re not taking God seriously!” Wow. You're not taking God seriously....

Bishop Jakes’ sermon affirms that Faith and Forgiveness both operate in the spirit world. Jakes points out from Luke 17:6 how Jesus goes deeper into the complete trust, confidence, and belief that mustard seed faith is. This scripture reads, "If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this sycamine (mulberry) tree, 'Be plucked up by the root and planted in the sea' and it would obey you." Here Jesus is illustrating the power of Faith to remove not only what is visible, what may seem impossible to climb above or around, but also what may have a deep rooted stronghold - like unforgiveness. Through Faith, we can overcome, we can uproot what seems impossible to release. Remember, Jesus, who is our ultimate example of how to live, was asking His Father to forgive His enemies as He was dying on the cross...(Luke 23:34) 

Our heavenly Father wants us to choose to forgive. Let’s practice forgiveness. Let’s Exhale, so that we can Inhale and be ready to receive all that God wants to release in our lives!