Guest Week, Bro Brooks Walker: Forbearing One Another, Forgiving One Another

 
Colossians 3:13

“Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.”

 
Forgiveness. It is something that we are taught as young children to do. If you do something wrong, you say you’re sorry. If someone says I’m sorry to you, you forgive them. But what does it mean to forgive? The dictionary defines forgive as to “stop feeling angry or resentful toward (someone) for an offense, flaw or mistake; to cancel (a debt).” As children, we are generally quick to forgive and forget. But as we get older, in my experience, it would get harder to forgive. It would get harder to forget. As we get older, the tendencies to hold grudges, to get even, start to overtake the willingness to forgive, we start to seek an eye for an eye. That phrase comes from the Old Testament. Leviticus 24:19-21 says “And if a man cause a blemish in his neighbour; as he hath done, so shall it be done to him. Breach for breach, eye for eye, tooth for tooth: as he hath caused a blemish in a man, so shall it be done to him again. And he that killeth a beast, he shall restore it: and he that killeth a man, he shall be put to death." Our human nature isn’t to forgive, it’s to make wrongs right, to treat others as they treat you. “Why should I forgive them, they did this to me!” It’s a thought that I know has crossed my mind on more than one occasion.
Let’s look at the definition of forgive again. The first definition is the one that most people are familiar with, to stop feeling angry or resentful toward someone for an offense, flaw or mistake. When someone does something to you, whether on purpose or by accident, it is human nature to be angry or resentful. One could say that forgiveness is not in our nature. We have to learn to forgive, to stop feeling angry or resentful, we have to go against those feelings and forgive someone for their actions. It feels good to receive forgiveness, but it takes a lot to give forgiveness. In the Old Testament, it talks about an eye for an eye. However, in the New Testament, Jesus says, “Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.” (Matthew 5:38-42) Jesus was the ultimate example of forgiveness! Even on the cross, Jesus asked God to forgive the people crucifying Him! Jesus showed that no matter what people do to you, you should show forgiveness.
The second definition of forgive is not as long, but means so much to our lives. The second definition of forgive is “to cancel (a debt)”. Think about that second meaning for a minute, to cancel, to make as if it didn’t happen. A debt is something that is owed, or due. When you then apply that to your soul, forgiveness can become that much sweeter. Romans 6:23 says “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord.” We are all born sinners, it is a debt that we owe. If we live our whole life with that sin, then eventually that debt will be collected. But there is forgiveness of that debt, through Jesus Christ. He has paid that debt for us! He can make it as if that sin was not there! His forgiveness can cancel that debt! In that same chapter of Colossians that this forgiveness verse comes from, it says that, “Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him”. With His forgiveness, with Christ in us, we become a new man, a new person in Christ. The ways of the old man are forgiven, they are forgotten. Our debt is cancelled, paid in full!
When you break this verse down, it says that you should have patience (forbearing) with one another; we should forgive one another. If you have a quarrel with someone (A quarrel is a heated argument or disagreement, typically about a trivial issue and between people who are usually on good terms.) you should follow Jesus’ example, you should forgive them. This verse has helped me through a lot in my life. When I first read this verse, I felt like the Lord revealed to me that I was holding on to resentment towards people, and I needed to forgive them. As I stated before, when someone truly hurts you, it can be very hard to forgive them. But through reading this Scripture, it reminded me that I needed to let it go, let go of that resentment, that anger, I needed to forgive that person. Because that is what our Heavenly Father would do. He loved us so much, He offered up His Son to pay the ultimate debt. So if there is someone that has done something to you, has offended you, has wronged you, forgive them! No matter what they did, it is not worse than the Sin that we were born with. We are to follow Jesus’ example! “Even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.” Christ has already paid that debt, He has forgiven you, waiting for you to accept that forgiveness. Forgiveness, it truly is a beautiful thing!