When I was younger we watched a lot of PBS. It was one of the four channels available on our family television. One of the shows we watched was a Canadian comedy show called The Red Green Show. If you are familiar with it then you may remember Red’s fun catch phrases. One particular phrase that has stuck with me is this, “Remember, I’m pulling for you. We’re all in this together.”
Several years ago I took a “Forgiveness” Bible study here at NCBC. It was based on the book by R.T. Kendall entitled, Total Forgiveness: When everything in you wants to hold a grudge, point a finger, and remember the pain – God wants you to lay it all aside.
Part of the study included choosing a verse about FORGIVENESS to be sort of our “rally cry verse.” Something we could rally around when both learning about FORGIVENESS and then when we came to the part in our lives where we needed to practice FORGIVENESS.
The verse I chose was Colossians 3:13. “Bear with each otherand forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”
This verse holds so much in these two sentences.
First, “Bear with each other…” That reminded me of Red’s phrase. We’re all in this together. We need to bear with each other in life. We’re all in this together. Every one of us.
Second, “Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” Who am I to decide I can’t forgive someone for something when God forgives us for all the yucky stuff we get into. In no way am I better than God! Forgive as the Lord forgave you.
Red would end the show by saying, “Keep your stick on the ice.” This phrase is a nod to ice hockey, Canada, etc. and basically means you never know when an opportunity is going to come up, so you better be ready. Be ready to forgive when the opportunity comes up. Remember, I’m pulling for you. We’re all in this together.