Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.
Colossians 3:12-13
If you are "bearing with" someone, that person is affecting your life right now. I wonder if there is someone, or a number of people, with whom you are struggling right now? It may be a family member or a co-worker, and that old nature of yours is getting frustrated with them; you are tired of bearing with them. But the new nature says that you are to love them, and we know from 1 Corinthians 13 that love bears all things, hopes all things, believes all things, and endures all things. How can we possibly respond in love when our old nature is telling us that we've done enough, that to respond in love isn't worth the effort? Simple. God's Word shows us that as we walk in the Spirit, our old nature is put to death; the nature of Jesus will respond instead, and that response will be one of love.
Paul also instructs us here that as Jesus Christ has forgiven us, so are we to forgive others. Forgiveness involves dealing with things that have already happened. I know from talking with people over the years that there are many people who struggle with things from their past. They still remember things that their parents said or did. Hurts from an old boyfriend or girlfriend still affect them. And with so many of the stories I have heard, there is often a justifiable reason to assign blame. But we know from Scripture that Jesus forgives us completely -- our sins have been erased by the blood of Jesus, never to be brought up again. Today, let us use Jesus as our example, and forgive in the same way.Posted via email from ..................The Last Call Digest
