Colossians 3:13bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so must you do also.
This is from a letter to the Colossian Church which Paul did not found or even visit. He did know the man who had founded the church. This is Epaphras who told Paul some of the good that the church is doing, but also some of their struggles within the church. Paul writes a letter to the Church and first praises them. In this letter he discusses how Jesus came to change the world and change us. Paul says in chapter one that Jesus has rescued us from darkness. Paul speaks of his being in prison, and it is a joy to serve the Lord where he is.
Paul begins to address the problems within the Colossian church which is that those that are Greek and Roman just added Jesus to their list of many gods, and the Jewish Christians want to return under the law of the Torah. Paul then explains to the Greeks and Romans that Jesus is not an additional God… He is the Son of God, and they can only reach salvation through Jesus. To the Jewish people he reminds them that Jesus is the completion and fulfillment of the Law, and they need to move forward under the new laws which are based on love of God and love of people. Paul reminds them that they have died to the world to be born again in Christ’s love and sacrifice.
He lists the way that they needed to let die to them the ways of the world, and says in verse 3:10-11 10 and have put on the self, which is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created it- 11 a renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, and free, but Christ is all, and in all.
Paul tells the Colossian church that there is no distinction between the people that follow Jesus. He says, “We are all the same to God, all of us are image bearers of God.”
Just before the verse that is for today, Paul told the Colossian church to have a heart of compassion, humility, kindness, patience, and gentleness. To do this he tells the church to forgive each other. Forgiving is not easy if the pains go deep.
A sister slaps her brother, and she is made to say, “I am sorry.” But she isn’t and the brother is angry because she hit him knows she is not sorry. Still, it is important to instill in children the need to apologize. Forgiveness is different. It is the wounded person who needs to forgive. It is the brother that needs to forgive his sister’s action. In the Lord’s Prayer is a line that says, “Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.” About nine years ago I recited this prayer in church, and pow that line hit me like a ton of bricks falling on my head. I searched my heart and cried that I knew I had to forgive people who hurt me badly. I knew also that society would tell me that what was done was unforgiveable, but I knew that society was wrong. Everything done to hurt us was forgivable. I was holding on to those hurts that were mine to carry.
That is the thing. I was carrying them. They were chains keeping me in bondage to the abuse I suffered at hands of my Grannie and the Babysitter. They were a weight I carried within me. They had victimized me, but it was me hanging onto my right to keep those chains. I remained a survivor tied to those debts I was owed which was to forgive. In 2018, I came to a place of forgiveness, and I forgave them. At that moment God crowned me with a crown of victory. I was a victor. But forgiveness comes in layers and just because I forgave someone it doesn’t mean the pain doesn’t come back. When it does, I stop what I am doing and whisper in my soul, “Lord, I forgive them.”
Forgiveness takes us loving ourselves enough to be freed from the bondage, and patient enough to allow ourselves to begin to make that climb to forgiving others. Each step will have setbacks within us, but when the mountain top is reached, it is glorious. Paul understood being forgiven and also facing those that needed to forgive him and also facing himself to forgive those that harmed him. He knew this so well that even when he was in prison he said, “Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice.” (Phil. 4:4)
The question today is:
Are you on a journey to forgiving someone?
Ever in Christ’s love,
Mary Elizabeth Todd
February 10, 2024 & May 20, 2024
Ruhamah United Methodist Church Bible Verses 