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Bearing means to endure or tolerate a person and his or her actions, opinions, etc. It is a stance of not judging because of your respect for him or her as a creation of God, one loved by Him. Bearing comes from living out visibly and tangibly what God has put into you from His being and His indwelling Holy Spirit. Because we are “raised with Christ,” as Paul stated, we are enabled to bear with each person if we are willing to do that which God compels us. We can simplify this action and attitude of bearing with a slogan from the 1980s-2000s, “What would Jesus do”—WWJD.
Paul wrote we are to bear each other, our brothers and sisters in Christ—their various attitudes, actions, thoughts, words, etc. Still, he added to that. He specifically added that we are not only to bear but to “forgive any complaint.” Forgiveness is hard for any person, especially the unsaved. It should be easier for a Christian because he or she recognized and recognizes daily his or her own sins. Still though, without humility, forgiveness is hard to give. Without a willing heart, the forgiveness God puts within you will not be extended to others.
Bearing a person is easier to do. Sometimes we just grit our teeth and put up with a person (“grin and bear it”), probably while interacting very little with the person. Forgiving requires more of a person to be done. It requires humility, understanding, mercy, compassion, kindness, and acceptance of that person with whom you bear his or her opinions, actions, attitudes, etc. Forgiving is freely, willingly, and graciously extending favor, kindness, and pardon to a person who has harmed or offended you or someone else.
Paul said forgiveness is a refusal to cast blame for “any complaint.” Forgiving is totally removing a harm from your memory of offenses, not harboring any grudges for later quarrels or arguments. Paul also recognized that forgiveness is a two-way street when he wrote, “against one another.” It takes at least two people for an offense to happen. The offense of one person by another may occur from interactions between those two people because of attitudes, words, or actions misunderstood or misstated. Therefore, forgiveness often needs to be extended by each person in the equation of offense and hurt.
In considering offense and forgiveness, Paul summed up the ultimate example of forbearing and forgiving, in case anyone forgot and in hope they will remember it in the heat of the moment. Just as the word “bearing” should cause us to consider the ultimate reason to bear with another person and just as the word “forgiving” should cause us to think of the ultimate reason to forgive, Paul explicitly stated as reminder and prime example Jesus’ bearing with and forgiving of us, His followers.
Even if you are so hurt or offended that you do not want to be with or think about the person by whom you took offense, remember, but for Jesus, you would not know or have freely received forgiveness. You would not have received salvation and the promise of eternal life. Your interactions with God read like a litany of charges of offense and rebellion against Him, but He extended and extends undue grace and forgiveness to you. He bears with and justifies you. God removes your sins from your name as far as the east is from the west.
God did not have Paul write and teach that we are to do something impossible. He bore and forgave all your sins. God gave mercy and grace to you and pours into you the ability to be merciful and gracious toward other people. You can bear and forgive because of His love, of which you are the recipient and the channel to other people.
So, be like God. By the love of God within yourself, bear with and forgive any complaint you have with one another. Are you willing?
Are you forgiven and saved by Jesus? If not, now is the time to believe in Jesus, confess your sins, and receive His forgiveness.
