1-4-2015

 Good Morning All,

         Colossians 3: 12-13; “So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience;  ⁽¹³⁾bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you.”

     As I have often stated, I like to watch movies and most types of movies.  One type of movie that I really don’t like is the “Christmas genre.”  It is not that I am a Scrooge or the Grinch; it is that these movies are all the same basic story.  Our hero comes to a small town looking to make a new or fresh start.  In the process our hero falls in love and then, in a fit of undecidedness, has to decide if going back to the past life is right or staying with the new life is right.  Usually our hero stays and kisses the new love interest while it starts to snow and the wizened members of the community smile knowingly.  The one variation is that our hero goes back to clear up what needs to be cleared up promising to return in the spring.  I liked the first one, even the first six or seven but after that; well that is why our house is a multi-television house.

    There is a grain of truth in this type of movie; it is hard to move forward if you do not rectify the past.  In many ways our verses for today reflect this as we get going into the New Year.  All Christians seek the first part of our verse.  We want a heart of compassion; we want to be kind; we want to be humble, gentle, and patient.  We may even have these as New Year resolutions.  Yet, in a few weeks, we may find ourselves struggling with them and we may even abandon them.  We may even be questioning why we are doing so.  It is somewhat amazing that the second half of our verse (verse 13) helps to answer this. 

    Until we forgive, really and truly forgive, it will be difficult, if not impossible, to truly experience the desires of verse 12.  As long as we withhold forgiveness, there will always be darkness, bitterness and anger within our heart.  That is why, sometimes, in order to go forward, you need to go back and fix the pain.  You may have to ask for forgiveness; you may have to forgive.  Either way, holding onto the pain will darken your heart.  Holding onto the sin will deprive you of the compassion, the kindness, the humility, the gentleness and the patience that God desires you to have.  God desires you to have these because these give us contentment that we seek.  These allow us to live in peace; the peace that most of us so desperately seek.

   So as you look to the New Year, you may need to clean up prior years.  You may need to start with forgiveness; that is what God does with you.  First God forgives you, out of love, that you may be his redeemed child.  First we must forgive then the other gifts will follow.

Gracious Father, through you we receive forgiveness.  Give us the strength to forgive others.  Give us the desire to seek forgiveness where we have caused pain.  Move our hearts that we might rise to be the children that you desire us to be.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret