“Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”

(Colossians 3:13)

Have you ever had to carry a heavy load for a long distance?

I remember one time in high school when my journalism teacher gave me the keys to his car and sent me to the parking lot to get a bundle of newspapers to bring back to class.  It sounded like a great thing to me as I walked the ten or twelve minutes to the parking lot and opened his trunk.  Yikes!  50 Sunday LA Times papers!

I don’t know how many pounds were involved, but if you’ve ever seen the Sunday Times you can imagine how heavy 50 are; maybe not at first, but by the time I got back to class I was coolly and calmly doing my best to hide the fact that my arms and shoulders were about shot!

Have you ever tried to carry the load of not forgiving?

Carrying that around can be a lot more work then 50 Sunday papers.  It can sap your creativity, it can cloud your judgment and it can interfere with your relationships.  Most importantly it can sap your relationship with God.  Bear in mind that He forgave you of all of your sins; how does it look to him when you can’t forgive?  Let it go: forgive those who have wronged you as Jesus has forgiven you.