Miraculous Forgivness - Himalayan Heights – May 12 Readings: Colossians 3:13 – Forgive

 Colossians 3:1-17 A Primer in Christian Living

All Scripture is God-breathed and useful, but there are some Scriptures that we can consider the Himalayan mountaintops of the Bible. In the next few months, we will be looking at a series of great texts that inspire and move us - the "Himalayan Heights" of God's Word.

Today's Reading:  Colossians 3:1-17

Colossians 3:1-17 is a step by step guide to Christian living. It is a series of 12 commands, each of which builds on the previous one, laying out how we should live as followers of Jesus Christ. Each day, read the entire 17 verses, then meditate on the verse or verses that are the focus passage.

13 bearing with one another and forgiving one another if anyone has a grievance against another. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you are also to forgive. 

Phase 2: Out with the Old, In with the New
Step 7: Forgive

NOTES: Perhaps the biggest spiritual challenge in any life is forgiving those who have sinned against us, a strange thing, considering that the whole thrust of Christianity is receiving forgiveness from God. In the seventh step, Paul tells us that we must                                                                                                                                               

Through the Bible Readings: 2 Samuel 13-14, Luke 24:1–35, Psalm 60, Proverbs12:25-26

If you wish to read through the Bible in a year, follow these readings. 

Devotional: Miraculous Forgiveness     

When Dylann Roof murdered 9 people at a Bible study in Charleston, South Carolina, an amazing thing happened. The family and the church family of the murdered expressed their forgiveness to him. Many in the secular world were horrified. One columnist, in Salon Magazine, wrote an article entitled, "Why America needs to reject the Charleston massacre’s dangerous narrative of forgiveness” Many are convinced that anger and outrage are more appropriate and productive responses to injury, injustice, and abuse than God's solution - grace and forgiveness.

We live in a fallen world in which wickedness prevails. There are two realities we must derive from this spiritual fact. First of all, we must admit that each of us has sinned against God and is deserving of his eternal judgment. Our greatest need is not food or water, but the eternal forgiveness of God given to us by the blood of Christ on the cross. The second truth is that in a sinful world, sinful people sin against one another. We hurt each other, abuse and betray one another. Even in churches, where God's people gather, there is injury.

Jesus told us that the forgiveness we receive from him or our sins must be passed on to those who sin against us. We cannot ask God for his grace while refusing to extend it to others. Many Christians never experience spiritual power or personal freedom because they ignore Christ's commands. They call out to God for blessings and grace and forgiveness but they hold grudges and refuse to forgive those who have hurt them. It doesn't work that way.

There are three aspects to forgiveness mentioned in this passage. The command is clear - we are to forgive. There are three conditions attached. First, we are to bear with one another. The fact is, the things that annoy and aggravate us about others are not always sinful. God saves some odd people (and yes, there are likely people thinking about YOU - and me - when I say this). We must put up with the oddities and quirks of others. The second aspect deals with "grievances" - actual sinful occurrences. Sometimes people do not just behave weirdly, but badly. We must forgive them. Finally, our standard of forgiveness is Christ. We forgive as Christ forgave.

Christianity can be a weird thing, but perhaps the oddest aspect of our faith is that it is built on the offended seeking reconciliation. Think about that. Normally, it should be the person who commits the offense who acts to make things right, but in our faith, Jesus came to seek and to save what was lost. We forgive as Christ forgave. We take the first step to seek reconciliation and blessing for those who have sinned against us.

How do we forgive? In the Bible, forgiveness is not about feeling warm and fuzzy toward the person who committed the offense. And it is not about "forgive and forget." Forgiveness is about paying for another's sin. Jesus paid for our sins by his blood and when we forgive, we absorb the hurt and pain so the other can receive blessing.

Forgiveness is canceling the other person's debt, refusing to keep a record of their wrongs or to seek vengeance against them. When we forgive, we do not enlist others to support us in hurting them and we do not gossip against them. Instead, we pray for the person and seek to be a channel of God's blessing in their lives. (Matthew 5:44). We seek ways to show God's love to them practically. (Romans 12:20-21). And we do not stop. God's love is relentless and Jesus told us to forgive "seventy times seven." 

 Even want to see a miracle? Let the love and forgiveness of God flow through you toward someone who has hurt you and you will see God work in powerful ways that will amaze you. 

Father, work in me the miracle of forgiveness and through me, bless those who have sinned against me. 

Think and Pray:

Make a list of those who have hurt you, injured you, abused you, those against whom you hold a grudge.
Commit to pray regularly for them and seek to be a blessing of God in their lives, as God allows.