GOOD COUNSEL OR BAD COUNSEL? IT MATTERS!

WORD FROM THE CENTER: MONDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2025
Welcome to “Word from The Center” MONDAY, a devotional word from the Center of our faith, Jesus Christ, with reflections on His Word. I’m Gregory Seltz. Today’s reading is Luke 17:1-4 which challenges us with these words:

And [Jesus] said to his disciples, “Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come! 2 It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin. 3 Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, 4 and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”

GOOD COUNSEL OR BAD COUNSEL? IT MATTERS!

When I’m speaking to congregations around the country, I often run into people who lament how things have changed. They reminisce about TV shows that one could watch with the family or newspapers that one could read without today’s endless vitriol and spite. They yearn for a time when leaders would lead for all, when parents would parent their children, and when the most vulnerable among us didn’t have to live in violence and fear. I see their point.

Jesus is especially concerned for the vulnerable and the broken in our reading for today. He talks plainly about what it means to live with a sinful heart in a sinful world. He says, “Temptations to sin are sure to come.” No doubt! But such things are to be faced and taken seriously. Jesus adds, “Pay attention to yourselves!” Temptation to sin is temptation to rebel against the one who created and redeemed you for an abundant, eternal life. Falling into sin and then loving the life of sin can lead to cutting oneself off from the source of life, God. Repentance is turning away from such foolishness by the power of the Spirit of God. It involves an ongoing struggle against temptation, yes. But it also means living boldly in the renewed life of grace which was earned by the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Such a life includes faith toward God and then fervent love toward one’s neighbor!

Jesus is giving good counsel, counsel that all of us need to hear. A reconciled relationship with God that is received by faith produces a life of ongoing repentance and forgiveness. Sharing that forgiveness then becomes essential to our friendships and it ought to impact all of our relationships in this world. For example, if you know someone who is struggling with temptation and even sinning against you, and they repent, forgive them without measure! Why? Because that’s what God does for you! And here’s Christ’s added warning: If you are one who doesn’t take temptation and sin seriously, you better not also be one who leads the vulnerable and the weak into sin. God especially despises that.

Good counsel or bad counsel? When it comes to sin and temptation, it really matters. So listen to Jesus!

PRAYER: Dear Lord Jesus, give me courage to listen to Your counsel, even when our culture bids otherwise or my heart tempts me to go astray. May Your words fill, guide, and direct my life, now and forever. “I believe; help my unbelief” (Mark 9:24). AMEN

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