Unity Seed – Extend Mercy: Forgiveness
Key Verse
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.
Colossians 3:12-13 (NIV)
Short Reflection
As followers of Christ, we are expected to generously forgive each other without any reservations since unforgiveness has a great potential to result in several ungodly acts, including revenge and use of destructive language that can tear down fellow believers. We all know that as human beings we always have differences that develop among us, especially when we try to coexist as a family. However, as Christians, we are reminded to learn how to bear with each other despite the differences that may exist among us as we continue to use the best way possible to resolve any issues that may arise, while putting forgiveness at the center of everything.
According to Paul, forgiveness should be rooted in the fact that God has freely forgiven us as He promised not to remember our sins. Therefore, we are expected to reflect God’s grace and forgive towards each other in our daily living. As God forgave you, you should therefore follow His example and forgive fellow men with sincerity so as to portray the true image of God and extend his humility, compassion and forgiveness to all.
Lord, let this reader and I be “All for One”, and, as a result, be willing and able to forgive one another just like Jesus.
This is the fourth in the “Extend Mercy” series of blog posts and is written by Alemi Todoko, PEER Servants volunteer from Arua, Uganda now living in Juba, South Sudan.