Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.
- Colossians 3:13

It’s God’s activity that sets the stage here. The Lord has forgiven us. He’s forgiven all of our sins: everything we’ve done and everything we’ve left undone. His forgiveness is complete and wonderful. We can experience his love fully because we’ve been fully forgiven by him.

Committed relationships will always require forgiveness. You spouse will hurt and disappoint you. And you will be called to forgive them. The same is true with your kids, your co-workers, your pastors, your friends, your parents … every human being you interact with is someone that you might one day have to forgive.

Forgiveness is beautiful, but it is difficult.

It is hard to forgive if you don’t know the experience of being forgiven. The farther we get away from the memory of the forgiveness we’ve been given by Jesus, the harder it is to forgive others. We’re always making movements to minimize our sin and guilt while magnifying the sin and guilt of other people. If we’re not careful, we’ll drift to a place where we become incapable of forgiving those whom we love the most.

If you’re struggling to forgive, the best thing you can do it to remind yourself of the great and gracious forgiveness you have received from the Lord. Perhaps you’ll need to ask the Lord for help with this. That’s okay.

Take a moment to get in touch with how God’s forgiven you. Think through ways you’ve fallen short of your own expectations of yourself and of God’s expectation of you. Remember how God wiped your slate clean and gave you another chance. Remember how God embraced you with love and compassion. Now ask for his help as you try to forgive.