Find Hope in God's Unfailing Love | Day 17 | November 11, 2025

 Love Lets It Go

“Be gentle and ready to forgive; never hold grudges. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.” Colossians 3:13 (TLB)

The longer you know someone, the easier it is to become critical of them. As time goes on, you’re more likely to become less gracious and to take others for granted.

Showing grace is an ongoing practice. It’s easy to show grace once. But over time, little annoyances add up, your patience starts to wane, and it’s easier to respond to hurt with hurt.

To experience a love that lasts, choose to be merciful. No relationship is going to last without forgiveness, acceptance, patience, and a lot of grace.

The longer you love somebody, the more you know their flaws. You can choose to either be critical or gracious. Proverbs 17:9 says, “Love prospers when a fault is forgiven, but dwelling on it separates close friends” (NLT).

Showing grace goes against our nature to fight back, harbor a hurt, and have the last word. As a follower of Jesus, you have the Holy Spirit working in you to help you choose the things God loves: mercy, compassion, and grace.


Scripture:

Colossians 3:13

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Unwavering Conformity | Day 3 | July 4, 2025

Houses of Prayer; Houses of Light In anticipation of temple construction, David offers a remarkable prayer, a prayer that serves as a template or model for each of us as God's stewards. The prophet Isaiah later refers to that very temple as God's 'house of prayer' (Isa 56:7). And David himself anticipates that reality, declaring in Psalm 18:6, 'In my distress I called to the Lord; I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears.' A house of prayer. In Psalm 18:28, David uses imagery that permeates Scripture, saying, 'My God turns my darkness into light.' An unmistakable message. A house of light. Pastor John Timmer relates a simple story about a house in need of light: “Once upon a time a man lived in a house without a window. Naturally, it was very dark inside his house. One day he said to himself, 'I'm sick and tired of living in a dark house. I want to get rid of the darkness. I want light i...
Read more

Unwavering Conformity | Day 2 | July 3, 2025

Living with the Consequences Repeated covenant-breaking has serious consequences. The flipside is that covenant-keeping has positive outcomes. Notice in this passage the central importance of Torah (law) and Israel's chronic recurrent problem of slipping back into all forms of idolatry. Modern Western society is permeated to its core with idolatry, with one particular ism extending its grasp beyond any other - materialism. Unchecked materialism has so infiltrated Christianity and other religious systems that it goes virtually unnoticed by the majority. Unless humanity, led by people of faith, can turn a corner quickly, the spiritual, interpersonal and societal consequences in today's interconnected world will hold us captive in ways ancient Israelites could have never conceived.  Following is a quotation from author, educator and environmentalist Bill McKibben's call for communities of faith to return God to the center of life: “Consumption is an issue uniquely suited for f...
Read more

Unwavering Conformity | Day 18 | July 19, 2025

Stewards of Unity Paul is asking his readers to live together in the unity of the Spirit, to be a fellowship of believers who love, support, encourage and help one another. Author, speaker and church planter John White (1924-2002) says, 'It is not possible to exaggerate the importance of your fellowship with you fellow Christians. You need their love. You need their discipline. They need yours.' White cites the prayer of Jesus in John 17:20-23, in which Jesus prayed specifically for the unity of his followers. Jesus' reason? 'That the world may believe' (Jn 17:21). White continues: “For the church was to be left on earth for that purpose; that the world might believe. Power in testimony is evidently not something that the church can possess as a sort of separate package; it cannot exist alone. The church that convinces men that there is a God in heaven is a church that manifests what only a heavenly God can do, that is to unite human beings in heavenly love. Whereve...
Read more