Colossians 3:12-14 (NIV)
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 one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
Paul points out something in this paragraph that should be obvious, but which is too often overlooked or ignored. As God’s people, people who have received unmerited love from God, we should show unmerited love to others. As God’s people to whom great compassion has been shown, we should show great compassion to others. As those who have received consistent kindness from God, we should consistently show kindness to others.
This is no mere “paying it forward”, but is intended to be a consistent lifestyle: “Freely you have received, freely give” (Matthew 10:8 NIV). It is to be manifested, not just when we become aware of a specific blessing that we have received, but all the time, because God’s blessings in the lives of his people are poured out on us continuously.
As saints of the Most High God who have received mercy and forbearance from God in place of deserved punishment and discipline, there should be forbearance and forgiveness among ourselves whenever someone is wronged. There is no place for bitterness, anger, or holding grudges. “For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” Matthew 6:14-15 NIV).
The thing that makes all this work is agape love, originating in God’s heart, and poured into and through the hearts of all those who belong to Him. Without this kind of all-encompassing, self-sacrificial love at work in our hearts, the best that can be hoped for is tolerance. But with agape love binding all the other virtues together, lubricating sometimes challenging interpersonal contacts, and melting away parts of hearts that threaten to harden, true koinonia, deep spiritual fellowship, cooperation in mission, and collective power in ministry becomes a reality.
Father, how easy it is for us to sometimes forget that we were saved, not by our own goodness and righteousness, but purely by Your grace that reached out to us “while we were still sinners” (Romans 5:8). And, as unworthy recipients of Your love, Your grace and Your forgiveness, we have no right or reason to withhold our love, our grace, and our forgiveness from anyone, no matter who they are, no matter what they have done. We can release them from our judgment (and ourselves from bitterness) freely, knowing that, in the end, it is You and You alone that they will have to seek forgiveness from or perish. Help us, Lord, every one of us, to live this out every day, in every relationship of our lives. Amen.