Colossians 3:13 — Dealing Graciously with One Another

13 …dealing graciously among yourselves, if anyone should be having a complaint against any. According as the Lord also deals graciously with you, thus also you.

Most translations speak here of “forgiving.” But the underlying Greek uses a different term: charizomai, closely related to charis – grace. It means showing another person favor, granting something to which no claim can be made. To forgive means that a debt is no longer reckoned against someone. Showing grace goes further: it answers the negative with something positive.

How often do we have a complaint against someone else? Perhaps we feel that we have been wronged. Or we are irritated by someone’s words, conduct, or failure to act. Paul does not deny such grievances but points to the Lord: “According as the Lord also deals graciously with you, thus also you.” And how rich that grace is! God justifies us and sees us in Christ. In the Beloved, grace has been bestowed on us, and we have been made acceptable. That is the source: not merely refraining from reproach, but approaching the other person out of the grace we ourselves have received.

Those who realize how much grace is being shown to them begin to look at others from that same perspective. Then even legitimate grievances become an opportunity to make something of God’s own grace visible. The reproach does not have the final word; grace does. For where grace appears, the complaint loses its power.

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