"He said to his disciples, “Hard trials and temptations are bound to come, but too bad for whoever brings them on! Better to wear a millstone necklace and take a swim in the deep blue sea than give even one of these dear little ones a hard time!
“Be alert. If you see your friend going wrong, correct him. If he responds, forgive him. Even if it’s personal against you and repeated seven times through the day, and seven times he says, ‘I’m sorry, I won’t do it again,’ forgive him.”
The apostles came up and said to the Master, “Give us more faith.”
But the Master said, “You don’t need more faith. There is no ‘more’ or ‘less’ in faith. If you have a bare kernel of faith, say the size of a poppy seed, you could say to this sycamore tree, ‘Go jump in the lake,’ and it would do it." Luke 17:1-6
Wow.
Yes, we only need a little amount of faith. But what believers do need is a lot of consideration, patience, understanding and forgiveness for others.
In everything we do or say, it is important not to (in different translations)...
'cause people to stumble'
put up 'stumbling blocks' for others
cause 'offenses'
'cause people to lose their faith'
and causes people to sin.
Meaning, we need to be really mindful of everything and not just say and do anything without thinking about what it could cause.
Also forgive! It is always easiest to think that you and all of your hang ups, issues, weaknesses, failures and transgressions were forgiven by our Father in heaven, we too can extend even the smallest amount of mercy, from the love, grace and mercy given us by our Lord and our Savior. On your own of course, you cannot do this, and this is why when the disciples heard this, they said 'we need more faith'.
To which, Jesus replied you do not need more than the littliest faith you already have. And instead, without saying it, you too can do so, through the love and the mercy you have already obtained and use that to extend to others. Such as it was illustrated in the Parable of Unmerciful/Unforgiving Servant.
"That is why the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. When he began to do this, a servant who owed him millions of dollars was brought to him. Because he could not pay off the debt, the master ordered him, his wife, his children, and all that he had to be sold to pay off the account. Then the servant fell at his master’s feet and said, ‘Be patient with me, and I will repay everything!’
“The master felt sorry for his servant, freed him, and canceled his debt. But when that servant went away, he found a servant who owed him hundreds of dollars. He grabbed the servant he found and began to choke him. ‘Pay what you owe!’ he said.
“Then that other servant fell at his feet and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will repay you.’ But he refused. Instead, he turned away and had that servant put into prison until he would repay what he owed.
“The other servants who worked with him saw what had happened and felt very sad. They told their master the whole story.
“Then his master sent for him and said to him, ‘You evil servant! I canceled your entire debt, because you begged me. Shouldn’t you have treated the other servant as mercifully as I treated you?’
“His master was so angry that he handed him over to the torturers until he would repay everything that he owed. That is what my Father in heaven will do to you if each of you does not sincerely forgive other believers.” Matthew 18:23-35
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