“bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you.” Col. 3:13

Do you respect everyone for what they do? If you respect what everyone does, it kind of devalues what respect you give to those who ought to be respected. Forgiveness too. If you forgive obnoxious, vile, unrepentant sinners, it devalues what forgiveness is. God knows better. We are told to forgive others as Christ has forgiven us. Are you forgiven by Christ? It depends, right? Christ forgives those who turn from sin and obey the Gospel. And the result is a valuable forgiveness with a restored relationship. But if you respect everyone and forgive everyone, you are respecting many who should not be respected and you are forgiving many who should not be forgiven. It’s called “casting your pearls before the swine.” Instead, Jesus says you should shake the dust from you feet and move on. Instead, Jesus says to confront the sinner and rebuke him. Then, and only then, if he repents, forgive him. As Paul said to the Colossians, we must forgive as God has forgiven us. God’s way of forgiving is the Christian way. 

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