Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Signed, Sealed and Delivered

“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

How fitting that after two days of struggle, sin, Satan and self, the Lord speaks to my heart concerning forgiveness.

“Make allowance”. Don’t be too sensitive. Cut some slack. Lighten up. Don’t take things so personally. Many times the incident isn’t intentional.

Forgive freely. No marionette forgiveness. Remove the strings. Drop the grudge. Remember, Paul is talking to the church. These are brothers and sisters in the Lord. Yes, they can be guilty and the grievance can be real, but our response should still be grace.

Whether the incident was intentional or not, our forgiveness can be on purpose. It is a choice, not of words, but of heart. It is not excusing the behaviour or denying the hurt, but letting go of resentment. Brennan Manning writes, “Our resentments reveal that the signature of Jesus is still not written on my life.” Christ’s signature involves transformation.

Lord, mark my life with Your signature. May I be signed, sealed and delivered.



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2 comments:

Kathy Schwanke said...

Beautiful! It seems to be a theme in the posts I have glanced at tonight. 70x7...God is good to give us the grace to forgive!
Love,
kathy

~Grace and Peace said...

"Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you." This needs to be printed and posted somewhere near me at all times. Oftentimes we take offense to those closest to us. Let go, and let God.