Scripture:
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. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Colossians 3:12-17
Devotional Thought:
One of the most practical expressions of resurrection freedom is the freedom to forgive. When we are no longer imprisoned by the need to protect ourselves, prove ourselves, or pay back those who’ve hurt us, we discover that Christ’s forgiveness creates a wellspring of forgiveness in us.
Paul paints a beautiful picture of the new self in Colossians 3 — clothed in compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. But at the center of this wardrobe is something that requires intentional choice: “Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”
Forgive as the Lord forgave you. Not as a transaction — you forgive me and then I’ll forgive you. Not conditionally — when they’ve suffered enough, when they’ve apologized sincerely enough, when they’ve earned it. But freely, graciously, at great personal cost — the way Jesus forgave from the cross before anyone had repented of anything.
This kind of forgiveness is only possible for people who have received it themselves. You can’t give what you don’t have. But if Easter is real — if the debt against you truly has been cancelled — then you have an infinite reservoir to draw from. The person who knows they’ve been forgiven much loves much, and forgives much.
Forgiveness doesn’t mean pretending the hurt didn’t happen. It doesn’t mean immediate restored trust or no consequences. It means releasing the debt. Choosing not to hold it over someone. Handing the ledger to God and trusting Him to be the judge. It is, in the words of Lewis Smedes, “setting a prisoner free and discovering that the prisoner was you.”
Over all of this, Paul says, put on love — which binds everything together in perfect unity. The resurrection has made you free enough to forgive. That freedom is a gift to you, and to the people around you.
Reflection Questions:
1. Is there someone you need to forgive — not because they deserve it, but because Christ’s forgiveness of you creates the capacity for it?
2. How does understanding the depth of your own forgiveness change how you relate to people who have wronged you?
Application:
Bring one specific unforgiveness to God in prayer today. You don’t have to feel it yet — simply tell God you are choosing, by faith, to release the debt. Ask Him to do the work in your heart that you cannot do on your own.