Be Still And Know

Colossians 3:13 'Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.' Any happy and harmonious community relies upon forgiveness. It isn’t an optional extra but an absolute necessity. However, it is also incredibly hard work, so we need to reflect very carefully upon it. Humans step on one another’s toes very easily. In complete innocence, we often do it without meaning to. We say or do things which are obviously right to us, but which cause hurt and unhappiness to others. And, by the same token, people step on our toes and hurt us unintentionally. The only way of coping with this inevitable part of community life is to forgive. This forgiveness rarely needs to be put into words; saying that you forgive another person for their thoughtless words or actions can easily produce problems of its own. God calls us to live with an attitude of forgiveness that graciously and lovingly moves on from the hurt without drawing attentio