FRIDAY

Colossians 3:13

As we come to the end of the week, let’s return again to the Key Verse that we began the week with. “Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you” (Colossians 3:13). Having now had the opportunity to think more deeply about what it means to experience forgiveness and extend forgiveness, how does this passage speak more richly about what it is that God is inviting us into as members of God’s family and citizens of God’s Kingdom? What are some of the ways that grasping this more fully might change how we go about our lives?

• What new insights have you gained this week in terms of what it looks like to live in a stance in which forgiveness and reconciliation are not isolated events, but rather expressions of a posture we take in how we relate to each other?

• Where are the growing edges for you as you think about what it means to live in the way that Jesus invites us to pray, “Forgive us our debts as we have forgiven our debtors”?

• What is the difference between experiencing forgiveness as something transactional or contractual as opposed to something relational and covenantal? Do you think the distinction is significant, and if so, how?

• What questions or issues do you struggle with in regards to either accepting or extending forgiveness?

• Because reconciliation involves two or more people reestablishing a relationship with each other, if someone is unwilling to genuinely assume a posture you can trust, is it possible to extend forgiveness but not experience reconciliation? What might this look like?

• As you think back over your reflections this week, what do you sense God inviting you to consider, more fully embrace, or perhaps is nudging you towards? As you prepare to enter more fully into your Sabbath experience this weekend, take a few moments to share with God in prayer what is on your heart.