Three-Piece Suit!

Three-Piece Suit!

Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Colossians 3:13 NLT

In working out the Christian life, there are a lot of things God would have us learn and do, but today's extract speaks about maybe just three parts to this experience. First is the golden rule that says I must do to others what I want others to do to me. It is so easy to point the finger at someone else; to demand better from someone else while ignoring the reality of my own weaknesses. As long as I am clothed in this mortal body, I am not immune to mistakes. I must live daily in that reality, my daily interactions shaped by my understanding that if not for the grace of God, I would amount to nothing.

Then the other bit about forgiveness. As it has been said, being human means offending other people. How I process these offences speaks to my submission to God. How do I react when it seems the other person is taking advantage of my meekness? How do I react when the other person rebuffs my attempts to make peace? One thing is clear: I am to forgive the one who offends me, not wait for him or her to make peace. It is my response God addresses, not the other person's response. For a moment, forget how weak you will look and think of how happy God will be when you live out his heart.

And closely tied to these is the constant reminder that you stand where you are now because God took 'a chance' with you. At the time He called you to Himself, it wasn't as if you were the best of people or the most behaved. God extended his love to us while we were still sinners, and his love remains the same quality for all who will make the approach. If God could forgive me all I had done, it frees me to do the same for other people. If I have been given God's best, it is only fair that I also extend God's best to others. After all, my life is now the extension of God's grace and mercy and in and through me, God is able to reach the world with His love. Is my life that kind of vessel? His time of favour is here.