Luke 17:10 So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.

Jesus was teaching about forgiveness and here He describes it as our DUTY! That doesn’t seem possible, but if you read Luke 17:1-10 we discover that Jesus tells us to do the impossible, which is forgive 490 times per day; and then Jesus gives us the answer on how to forgive.

Luke 17:6-7 And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.
7  But which of you, having a servant plowing or feeding cattle, will say unto him by and by, when he is come from the field, Go and sit down to meat?

In these verses Jesus tells us that we have “faith” to move the impossible tree with a deep root system, which is a root of bitterness that comes from unforgiveness. Jesus said “It’s easy, just speak to it in obedience to His command, and it will obey YOU!” Amazing; the unforgiveness will obey you. How, you may ask? Verse 7 is the clue- the servant. This servant is an example of faith, which is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. If you will speak by faith “I forgive you”, then faith in the Spirit is activated and unforgiveness will be plucked up by the roots, taken out of your heart, and put into the sea, where it will die. No land plant can grow in salt water! Hallelujah, Jesus said it will obey you.

This means that unforgiveness, which comes from the devil, must obey the Spirit when you truly speak by faith and believe it in your heart! It will go away by being uprooted from your heart and mind. Luke 17:10 tells us that we are commanded to forgive and after you have done and said all these things, then say you are simply an unprofitable servant, because you have only done the bare minimum. In other words, Jesus said this is like the basic foundation of faith; this is the first step in the ladder of faith, so forgiveness is the first rung of many levels of faith that Jesus wants you to use. Faith cannot be increased but your obedience to the commands of Jesus will increase your awareness of the faith that is in you through the Holy Spirit. Then we can use faith for miracles and supernatural living, but this simple use of faith for forgiveness is nothing spectacular in the Kingdom, but it is your duty to obey it 490 times each day!

Jesus used this same faith to forgive you of your sins, iniquities, rebellion and wickedness and He did it numerous times a day. Because He did this, your sin was uprooted and dropped into the sea of forgetfulness!

Micah 7:19 He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.

Your sin was cast into the depths of the sea, which is the deepest part of the ocean, that cannot be seen because of the depth and darkness where no light has ever touched, nor man able to see. Jesus did this by simply saying “Father forgive them because they know not what they do”. Lord Jesus thank you for speaking to the unforgiveness of sin and casting it away from us and from your presence!