'How To' Instructions in Righteousness         printer-friendly

Lesson 22: Be kind to one another. Be tenderhearted.  Forgive one another.

Key verse:  Eph 4:32
And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.

In my 36 years of experience in the Body of Christ, this seems to be one of the most neglected elements of righteousness in the entire Salvation Process.  Garner Ted Armstrong would attest to this and probably Paul, as well.  It was Garner Ted Armstrong that stated that more people would lose the Kingdom based on refusal to forgive and refusal to accept the repentance of the brethren than any other single issue.
 

Be kind to one another
Benignant, mild, courteous, "polite". 1 Peter 3:8. Christianity produces true courteousness, or politeness. It does not make one rough, crabby, or sour; nor does it dispose its followers to violate the proper rules of social contact. The secret of true politeness is "benevolence," or a desire to make others happy; and a Christian SHOULD be the most polite of people. There is no religion in a sour, misanthropic temper; none in rudeness, stiffness, and repulsiveness; none in violating the rules of good breeding. There is a hollow-hearted politeness, indeed, which the Christian is not to aim at or copy. His politeness is to be based on "kindness;" Col 3:12. His courtesy is to be the result of love, good-will, and a desire of the happiness of all others; and this will prompt to the kind of conduct that will render his conversation. with others agreeable and profitable. ~ Barnes

Be kind and obliging to each other; study good breeding and gentleness of manners. A Christian cannot be a savage, and he need not be a boor. Never put any person to needless pain. ~ Clarke

The verb here means keep on proving yourselves to be kind to one another. ~ Wycliffe
 
Be tenderhearted
Having a heart disposed to pity and compassion, and especially disposed to show kindness to the faults of erring brethren; for so the connection demands. ~ Barnes

The English translation is very good. The word in the original has been much misunderstood, as is shown by its frequent translation elsewhere as bowels. "Heart" is correct. In the classical Greek this word referred to the organs of the upper body cavity; specifically the heart, lungs, and liver, as distinguished from the organs of the lower cavity (see the lexicons). ~ Wycliffe
 
Forgive one another
Should you receive any injury from a brother, or from any man, be as ready to forgive him, on his repentance and acknowledgment, as God was, for Christ's sake, to forgive you when you repented of your sins, and took refuge in His mercy. ~ Clarke

The only way we can be enabled to forgive is through the forgiveness which we ourselves already have received for Christ's sake. As God's love produces our love, so our realization of God's forgiveness produces our forgiveness of others.  ~ Wycliffe

Literally, 'yourselves:' in forgiving one another, it is yourselves that you forgive (Origen). ~ Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown
 

Lesson 22: Instructions – Be kind to one another. Be tenderhearted.  Forgive one another.
 
 1] Desire to have others be happy.
 2] Invoke benevolence.
 3] Be polite.
 4] Never put any person to needless pain.
 5] Have a heart disposed to pity and compassion.
 6] Show kindness, even when your brother commits a fault.
 7] Understand that we are able to forgive because God, first, forgave us.
 8] Forgive one another.
 9] Understand that when you point your finger and blame others, you are probably guilty of the same thing.  Conversely, when you forgive others, it is yourself that you forgive.
10] In these and all spiritual attributes and virtues, imitate God [see next lesson]

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