Colossians 3:12-17 KJV
Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.
So the theme highlighted for this week seems to be forgiveness. I love this scripture because it reminds us how to ask for the qualities of God that will build Godly character to help us withstand trying seasons. Whatever season you are facing today, we are asked to put on bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; to forbear with one another, and forgive one another.
Forgive
Lately, I’ve been finding a challenge with forgiveness especially as it relates to my personal and work life. It’s hard forgiving someone who doesn’t understand how they’ve hurt or offended you. It’s hard knowing that this person does not have the slightest care about what you may be experiencing and seem to treat you without understanding your value. It is also hard when the people you are called to forgive do not necessarily have a personal relationship with God and will not fully understand the measure of forgiveness. Forgiveness is hard especially if you think they don’t deserve it.
What I have come to do, instead of thinking of what they do or don’t deserve, is to think of my own actions. What have I been doing to add more fuel to the fire? How have I helped by adjusting my attitude? Am I worth forgiving also?
None of us are.
Which is why today we will choose to forgive because we were forgiven. Truly, we have NO IDEA the measure of Jesus Christ’s forgiveness to us, we don’t understand how our sinful nature hurts Him. We don’t have a clue the measure at which we dance with sin in the face of God and yet he loves us and has extended unmeritied favour – grace
That’s the word of the week – Grace. Let grace be your portion, receive His and extend it to others.
Forgive and release because God instructed you to,
Because it will rid you of all bitterness
And most importantly, because Christ forgave you.
Dear God,
Give us grace to forgive those who have offended us, may we be bold in our forgiveness, bold in our approach to others in kindness, humility and love which binds us together. May we let the word of Christ dwell in us richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in our hearts to the Lord. And whatsoever we do in word or deed, may we do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him. Release our unforgiving hearts, In Jesus name, amen.