Ephesians 4:32–Be Kind and Compassionate

Ephesians 4:32: "Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as in Christ God forgave you."

Kindness and compassion of the like mentioned in this verse, the transacting of forgiveness, deserves a sufficient reminder and consideration for everyday Christian life.  The striking comment is not that this task is particularly challenging between people who possess a certain closeness and intimacy or at the very least a sense of likability between the two.  However, this task is another thing altogether when dealing with those whom we hold in animosity.

The real challenge to this command comes when we have to be kind to the unkind and compassionate to the wicked.  After all it is an easy thing to be forgive those whom we love and care for, but it is quite a different ordeal to forgive those whom we dislike or even despise.  The true measure of our forgiveness comes not, then, in forgiving our close loved ones but in forgiving our enemies, for this is what Christ has done in loving those who were by nature enemies of God.  Let us think of this when forgiveness seems out of the question when dealing with those 'harder' cases.