Forgive as You have Been Forgiven

I have written on this topic before and this morning I was reminded once again.

“¹²Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, ¹³bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. ¹⁴And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.” — Colossians 3:12-14 (ESV)

Verse 13 above really tells what actions we should be taking. Forgiveness is in our bag as we follow Christ. He forgave me for what sins I committed and more importantly, those that I have yet to commit. I have a duty to pay that forward to those I come in contact who somehow commit them against me or anyone else for that matter. I am not the judge of the actions of others, I am simply to apply the character of Christ to those and allow them to be judged by Christ as He pursues a relationship with them.

Notice verses 12 and 14 above as well. I am to forgive based on verse 13 and I am to be compassionate, kind, meek, and patient in situations and with others. I am to love them as Christ loves me along with the act of forgiving those wrongs to me and others.

This passage is found under the title in my ESV bible of; “Put on the New Self”. This “New Self” infers that there is an “Old Self” to take off and do away with. I know that there is plenty of old me that I have gotten rid of over the past number of years. With my “One Word” each year I am taking on something new and with it I am ridding myself of the old that is contrary to the new. The same applies with my “New Self” and the actions listed in verses 12-14 above.

“⁸But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.” — Colossians 13:8 (ESV)

And there they are, those items to put away and rid myself of and replace them with the New Self and those actions and items that drive me to following Christ and His example.

What are you holding on to that is getting in the way of your New Self? Are you hoping that you can make it as you are today? What will it take for you take the action of replacing the old with the new and taking on the actions of Christ including but not limited to forgiving as your were forgiven?