Colossians 3 – 4

Verse 3:13 is a very key concept we need to understand:

Put up with one another. Forgive. Pardon any offenses against one another, as the Lord has pardoned you, because you should act in kind.

“Forgive us of our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us!” Paul is emphasizing I think the most key element of the Lord’s Prayer, forgiveness. If we expect God to pardon our (going to use an extreme example) committing adultery with the secretary then we need to “pardon” our partners committing adultery with the milk man. That is what the key is here. If you cannot let go of people who has sinned against you, don’t expect grace on the judgment seat.

One of the key differences between the Lord’s Prayer, who says forgive ME as I forgive others, and Paul’s statement is the Lord has already shown us grace so therefore show others. Jesus’ words are very specific and almost impossible to live by, see the example and consider your response (note – the “well they did it so it’s ok the I did it” is not the right forgiveness).  Grace is the only way we can be forgiven, since we always seem to harbor some resentment and almost no one could stand to Jesus’ standards.

Say your child is murdered and the killer is set free by the legal system because the police did not read him his rights. Suddenly your pain is distributed across the killer, the police and the legal system for not punishing this killer. Could you forgive all three or would you want justice? That is why I say it’s impossible to follow Jesus’ words. I pray that this is an example of how we need to live, but Paul’s words are what we should strive for over time.

Verse 3:23 is another very important point from this chapter:

So no matter what your task is, work hard. Always do your best as the Lord’s servant, not as man’s,

How many times have we said “they don’t appreciate my hard work, so I’m taking a sick day and going to the lake”? We are not called to get noticed by our boss, but rather get noticed by God. I can say my last position was easy, I was not respected for my experience and I did not put in my best effort. I could do the work on schedule without breaking a sweat. The problem for me was the leadership expected me to work on a level I was capable of not per the job description or pay. Was this why I was laid off or a contributing factor? I am not sure, but I do know I was not working for God in my day to day tasks, but rather for me.

Doesn’t matter who the “man” is when we work, we need to focus on God and his approval, even if it means we get laid off anyway. Now with my former job I will say I got “beat down” more than once when I produced innovative changes or designs. One got me publically cussed out on two separate occasions. After 2 years of floundering with the old design, the company has embraced my design on the next project. Of course I did not get credit for the new design or being right. Was that an excuse to underperform? No, but I used it to justify just doing my job from that point forward. That attitude may have cost me my position.