“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” Colossians 3:12–13
Thorn, Joe. Note to Self (Foreword by Sam Storms) (p. 77). Crossway. Kindle Edition.
Reflections:
We all face a crisis of faith, when fail to forgive, because we are in that moment, failing to realize God’s forgiveness for ourselves. If we do not forgive, then we do not understand forgiveness. If we are struggling to forgive, the power to forgive, the ability to forgive, is not found in the horizontal relationships, but rather in the vertical relationship. Instead of focusing upon your human relationship (and all the shortcomings), you need to focus upon the basis of your relationship Jesus, that basis is forgiveness. When you start to comprehend how much God has forgiven you, you find the grace and power to forgive others. When you withhold grace, you end up denying Grace.
Colossians 3:12-13 tells us to do three things … 1) to clothe 2) to bear 3) to forgive. What do you suppose the differences are between each of those three actions? The similarities are obvious, so dig into why the Lord distinguishes the three.
Forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another.
a. Are there people that you have never fully forgiven? Are there people you are in the process of forgiving? Take a moment right now and pray for them. Ask the Lord to bless and prosper them!
Forgive as the Lord forgave you.
a. How has the Lord forgiven you? Take a moment and jot down a quick list. As you cite specific sins, you will quickly realize that you could list-write all day. We are all unaware of some sins in our lives. Imagine what the exhaustive, complete list would look like! 😊
Spend the remaining time in prayer. Ask the Lord to again, forgive you. Devote some time to praising God and thanking him for his forgiveness of your specific sins.
Please write a brief encouraging comment below. Doing so creates community and dialog with the Emmanuel Family and Friends.
Thank you,
Pastor John
