Good morning people who follow the example of God in regard to forgiveness.

Colossians 3:13 NIV Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

Bear with each other.

I hope you’re ready for this. The word bear here in the context of bear with each other means two things. Firstly, it means to hold up. This is beautiful. We should hold each other up before God’s throne of grace; we should pray for each other. Secondly, it means to put up with. Ouch! Now that’s different.

Christians won’t always get along with each other. We should, but we don’t. Sometimes personalities will clash. That said, the Spirit of God in us should be stronger than “it’s just my personality.” Sometimes I hear personality used as the excuse for sinful behaviour. It’s not a valid excuse. We are people of the kingdom of God and we are all called to submit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

Forgie one another if any of you has a grievance against someone.

As we walk this life with other people, there will be plenty of opportunities to need to forgive others and also to ask others to forgive us. This need is something we must embrace as the body of Christ.

And we must remember that forgiveness is a choice, not a feeling. Many times the narrative is something like, “I’m on a journey towards forgiving them.” I don’t see this in Scripture. I am not saying it’s easy, and I’m not saying they deserve it. I am however reminding us of what the Bible clearly says.

Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

In the times that we still struggle to forgive someone who has hurt us, we need to remind ourselves that the perfect and holy God forgave us while we were sinners. To remember God’s forgiveness towards us is the best fuel to help us forgive others. We didn’t deserve God’s forgiveness, and yet, He forgave us. Others might not deserve our forgiveness, and yet, we must forgive them.

What is God requiring from you today?