Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 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. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

Colossians 3:12-14

For most of us, being on the receiving end of forgiveness is one thing, but forgiving someone else is something altogether different, wouldn’t you agree?

In the passage above, Paul addresses with some detail on how to live with an attitude of forgiveness toward others. In Paul’s list of what to put on here, he speaks of actions of compassion, kindness and patience as we put up with each other. Then he moves on to the idea of how we live out true forgiveness –

• If we have a problem with someone else, forgive them.
• As the LORD has forgiven us, we must forgive each other.
• Love is the key to keep our lives in harmony.

Paul’s description of love in 1 Corinthians 13 is for more than wedding readings –

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Forgiveness and love go hand in hand. The latter is critically necessary in order to practice the former. Let’s love and forgive.