Colossians 3:13 – Bearing and dealing graciously

Bearing with one another and dealing graciously among yourselves…

There is no knowledge of good without knowledge of evil. That is a universal Biblical principle. We only get to know everything that is good by contrast. How would a quality like tolerance show up without unpleasant situations or setbacks? Or without people around us who are ‘impossible’? Tolerance means nothing without such a negative background. Only pleasant people around us in prosperous situations may be pleasant, but there is no tolerance to show.

Complaining, bitterness, blaming, that is the way the world reacts to irritation and misery. But those who have come to know the grace of GOD will learn a completely different response. I can complain about negative people around me. At home, in the workplace or even in the circle of believers. But if GOD put such people in my life, wouldn’t that serve any purpose?

Disappointments and difficult people around me allow me to endure. They are opportunities to show what GOD’S grace can and means! That insight teaches me to thank for negative things. Because grace turns minuses into pluses! 

Delen: