Over the years, I have had the pleasure of meeting a lot of people from various church backgrounds. I love hearing how God has worked in their lives, I love hearing their experiences. However, I have noticed that when they speak of disunity in the church and the hurt – a lot of the time it has to do with people not forgiving each other for past wrongs. People holding a grudge. And I, on occasions, have also found it hard to forgive.
As you can see from a recent post, I have been meditating a lot on Colossians 3:12-14:
‘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 whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.’
Four things stand out to me in this passage – Patience, Forbearance, Forgiveness and Love. A patient person doesn’t get angry at others. A patient person doesn’t hold resentment or seek revenge. A person who bears with another endures in spite of personal attacks, difference of opinion, complaints and the like. They endure and they don’t retaliate. And then we are to forgive… Paul instructs us to have Christ as our model. We need to forgive and not hold on. We need to forgive so that bitterness doesn’t set in. You don’t have to look far to see the damage bitterness does to a person and to the church. The church as a whole needs to be a gracious and forgiving community. And on top of that, we need to be a loving community. Love is the very glue that holds everything together… the glue that produces unity in the church.
Maybe I’m a little idealistic… but wouldn’t the church be a better place if God’s people took notice of this passage?
Maybe just a little idealistic!
