Forgive Others

Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. (Ephesians 4:32)

It is very important that we learn how to forgive others. There are some passages which cry out for much more meditation and processing; and this happens to be one of those. Filled with the Holy Spirit, I can imagine that the Apostle Paul had someone on his mind when he wrote these words. Undoubtedly, he had seen enough professional pain inflictors in his life. This verse is not an academic walk in the park. It is one filled to the brim with inner struggling and processing.  

It is one thing to read these powerful words of active kindness and compassion, but another thing entirely to actually walk that path. The last person you would like to be kind and compassionate to is the one who has hurt you, or the one you love deeply. It is in this context of emotional upheaval that our Sovereign Lord admonishes us to actively and aggressively be kind and compassionate to those who are your brothers and sisters in Christ. The very person who has hurt you has been able to do that because you allowed them to get close to you.  

Possibly, it was even a family member or best friend who hurt you. Maybe that personal pain was dumped in your lap by someone in the social media arena, using words of shame and ignorance recklessly. One friend posted, “His social media platform hadn’t healed the sick or caused the blind to see, but it certainly had caused the dumb to speak.”  

Words and actions can deeply hurt us and the Lord has positioned us to deal with it.  This is how:
1. Choose to be…every good thing you don’t have the power to be. 
2. Act it out…in word and deed with love, to the pain inflictor. 
3. Remember your encounter with Grace.

Will this be easy? No way! This is the key to follow: “Act your way into a new way of feeling instead of trying to feel your way into a new way of acting.” No sermon intended here, but all too often we wait for a feeling before we act. Doing a kind or compassionate act will produce all the kindness and compassion you need within. By the way, this is not “one and done.” This spiritual behavior will need to be repeated as often as required. Believe me, you will never run short of opportunities to practice this! “Jesus, help me live like this today!”