Don’t Be Reluctant to Show Mercy

by kingteamdad

“You must make allowance for each other’s faults and forgive the person who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.” (Colossians 3:13 NLT)

RAMBLINGS from Lacy’s dad – Early in their lives we taught Lacy and her bothers about forgiveness. When one of them was wronged, the offender had to apologize and ask for forgiveness. We taught the offended NOT to say “it’s ok”, because it’s not. We taught the offended to say “I forgive you”. We didn’t want one of them to get bopped in the head with a rock and then learn to tell their sibling “it’s ok…to do that behavior”.

Hopefully, that is what we see in small group settings or Bible fellowship groups. There will be the occasional potato-head that “tosses a rock” at another in the group, typically a spouse. When we witness that, or learn of that, it is our responsibility to lovingly say “bad idea Mr. Potato head!”

It really is amazing the things people are clueless about when it comes to proper behavior and treatment in a relationships. There are many people out there now who were raised in very dysfunctional homes. Abuse was common for many. Lingering pain, hurt, and bitterness are the remnants of that type behavior.

They say harboring hatred for someone is similar to drinking poison and waiting for the other guy to die. It ends up hurting us much worse then the other person. God knows every second of life. The highs, the lows, the things done in private, the things done against our will. We need to lay all of that at His feet and say “Here, You deal with it. I can’t anymore!”

For most of us it’s easy to be offended. It’s easy for us to feel hurt. Many times it is justified. Many times we are mistreated, or spoken to in the wrong way…you know now that I think about it, a certain Jewish Carpenter was mistreated, spoken to in the wrong way, eventually even killed.  Some of the final words out of His mouth were “Father, forgive them….”

I need to be more like Him!….

Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing 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. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. (Colossians 3:12-14)