Continuous and Complete Forgiveness
It is obvious that we can have problems with other believers and other non-believers for many different reasons. These problems can cause us to become angry, resentful, and even bitter. We must not allow this to happen for at least two reasons. When we are angry, resentful, and bitter it hurts our relationship with God and other people, not just the person with whom we had a problem. Also, if we carry these things around, it is a very bad testimony to people about Christianity. We turn them off to Jesus, so they are liable not to ever to trust Him and be saved. Therefore, we need to heed what the Bible says. (Colossians 3:13) We must be bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if anyone has a grievance against another. The way we must forgive is just as the Lord has forgiven us. Got it? Forgiveness is a big deal, and we need to make it a priority.
When the Bible says "bearing with" and "forgiving," those are present tense participles. That means they show continuous action in the present. We are to be continuously bearing with one another and forgiving one another. It is not a one time thing or maybe we forgive two times. It is to be always going on every day. This prohibits staying angry and holding grudges. It guarantees the unity of the Spirit, too. That is God's goal for every believer all the time. I know we can't achieve the unity with non-believers all the time, but that should be our goal, so they see the love of Jesus in us. Then, when we forgive like Jesus, we are to forgive them completely. Jesus forgives all of our sins forever by His grace. We can't earn forgiveness. He decides to send our sins away as far as the east is from the west. When He forgives, He never brings up our sins again. We must do the same thing for others. We must not make them try to earn our forgiveness or come groveling to us for us to love them and completely let go of anything between us and them. I hope I have been able to make this plain, because it is vital to our growth as Christians and the growth of God's kingdom in this world.
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Tomorrow, I intend to read Colossians 4 and I Thessalonians 1-2.