Colossians 3:12-15 (ESV)
12 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.
Two thoughts I want to share with you today;
I once watched a video clip that challenged me to the core on the issue of forgiveness. This was a story of two men, one of them a former policeman and the other a former prisoner. The policeman was young and zealous when the lives of the two men collided. In his zeal to do great things as a policeman, he veered off track and started planting drugs on people whom he would then arrest because he was zealous to have the most drug arrests in his station. That is how he arrested this man after planting drugs on him, and he was put in jail. Years later, it was discovered that the policeman was corrupt and the man he had put in prison was eventually released. The policeman served his time in Jail and when he got out; by chance the two collided because they ended up working in the same restaurant. The unexpected happened when the man falsely accused made up his mind to forgive the former policeman. These two became the best of friends to the point of motivational talks together talking to others about the power of forgiveness.
Second thought;
A Catholic priest told a gathering of friends about a time when he arrived in Israel late on a Friday afternoon, just as everything was about to shut down for the Sabbath. Public transportation was no longer available, and the house where people were expecting him was fifteen miles away. So, he picked up his suitcase and started to walk. He did not get far before a family saw him and invited him to spend the Sabbath with them. He accepted their invitation, and they all had a wonderful time. When Saturday evening came, he found his bus and went on his way.
After the priest finished his story, a Jewish friend said that he had a similar story to tell. As a long-haired college student in the late 1960s, he was travelling through Spain. One night, he got off a train in a village that was already asleep. A little frightened, he approached the only lighted place. It turned out to be a monastery, and the monks received him gladly. After his departure, he discovered that they had quietly slipped some coins into his pocket as he slept. (Practicing Our Faith: A Way of Life for a Searching People, Ed. Dorothy Bass, 1997.)
Hebrews 13:2 AMP
Do not neglect to extend hospitality to strangers [especially among the family of believers—being friendly, cordial, and gracious, sharing the comforts of your home and doing your part generously], for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it.
Hospitality and forgiveness are essential if one is to be an effective minister.
Reflections:
Whom do you need to forgive and are you willing to do it?
Do you see the good in others first or are you always suspicious and think the worst of others first?
Are you hospitable, or let me ask it this way, do people like to hang out with you?
