“...The Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.” – Colossians 3:13 (NLT)
By washing the dirt from His disciples’ feet, Jesus demonstrated His willingness to forgive their sin before they even committed it. This takes love to its highest level. You say, ‘I am not the guilty party here.’ Neither was Jesus. Of the men in that room, only One was worthy of having His feet washed. And He was the One who washed the feet. The genius of Jesus’ example is that the burden of bridge-building falls on the strong one, not the weak one. And do you know what happens? More often than not, if the one in the right volunteers to wash the feet of the one in the wrong, both parties get on their knees. Don’t we all think we are right? Hence we wash each other’s feet.
Understand this: relationships don’t thrive because the guilty are punished, but because the innocent are merciful. The mercy of Christ preceded His disciples’ mistakes, and our mercy must precede the mistakes of others too. Those in the circle of Christ had no doubt of His love, and those in our circles should have no doubt about ours either. Paul writes,“Be kind and loving to each other, and forgive each other just as God forgave you in Christ.” (Ephesians 4:32 NCV) Because Christ has forgiven us, we can forgive others. Because He has a forgiving heart, we can have a forgiving heart. When Christ truly lives within us, we have no better alternative. There is incredible power in the words, “I forgive you; I love you; let’s move on.”
