Colossians 3:13 13bearing with each other and forgiving one another if any of you has any kind of complaint against someone. Just as the Lord also forgave you, so also you should forgive.
Two participles contain the key responses in this verse. These are ways that the Colossians can live out the changes God is doing in them through Jesus Christ. They have been called and empowered to become like Christ but they need to make firm commitments to respond to this grace. First, they need to bear with one another. They needed to tolerate and put up with one another. Sometimes people rub us the wrong way. People are sometimes difficult to be around. Even Christians can have difficult relationships at times because of different ideas, personalities, or convictions.
To bear with others will require the second action of forgiving. The root of this word (charizomenoi) is based on “grace” (charis). It basically means to give grace to someone, hence to forgive. We need to give each other a bit of room to be human, and this will require forgiveness and grace. God is the primary example of this for us. Paul already mentioned God’s forgiveness in 2:13. A similar thought is found in Ephesians 4:32: “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” This forgiveness comes through what Christ did on the cross. Redemption involved forgiveness.
What may often need forgiveness and grace are the grievances and complaints people give us. It is easy to let these grievances grow into bitterness or let anger lead to sin. The best solution is to give these to God and ask for a forgiveness heart like his. Paul emphasizes this even more with adding the description of any kind. There are many different types of complaints people have. Sometimes these complaints are small but sometimes they are highly critical and devastating. We need to give it all to God and let his love fill our hearts.
The reason we can learn to forgive is that we have also experienced forgiveness. The only way we can forgive is because God has forgiven us and filled our hearts with love. We must make an effort in forgiveness. It will not happen accidentally. The Lord is the model for us. With Jesus in us and we in him through the bond of the Holy Spirit, we can find the spiritual strength to forgive. Forgiveness can have a profound impact on so many areas of our lives. As followers of Jesus, we do not have a choice about forgiving others. Forgiving others was a key topic in Jesus’ teaching. God’s forgiveness of us is directly related to how we forgive others (Matthew 6:12-14). The parable of the Unmerciful Servant in Matthew 18:21-35 is a powerful story of how important it is for disciples to forgive those who have wronged them.
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