Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Colossians 3:13 NLT

The Apostle Paul wrote this letter to the Christians in Colossae around AD 62 while imprisoned in Rome, addressing a church threatened by false teachings that diminished Christ’s supremacy and the new identity of believers in Him (Colossians 1:2, 28; 2:9–10) Historical context…

The book of Colossians reads as if it was written for our present day world. So much so that I feel it beckoning to me often lately. Most recently the 13th verse of Chapter 3. I’m familiar with the part of the verse that reminds us to forgive others as God forgave us. But you know what grabbed my attention in recent days? The phrase, “make allowances for each other’s faults…” caught my attention like other translations hadn’t.

What does ‘make allowances’ look like? In order for my readers to not miss what making allowances looks like, I am just going to have to resort to copying and pasting what my research turned up:

Practically, it looks like:

• Patience in the face of mistakes – When someone does something wrong, you resist the urge to dwell on it or to make them pay. Instead, you “bear with” them, meaning you endure their shortcomings without condemnation BibleRef.com.
• Choosing grace over condemnation – You recognize that everyone makes mistakes, and you respond with kindness and compassion, even when you’ve been wronged biblerepository.com.
• Forgiveness without holding grudges – Forgiveness here is not about excusing harmful behavior, but about letting go of resentment and not using the offense to hurt someone again biblerepository.com.
• Reflecting Christ’s forgiveness – The verse ties this to the fact that God forgave you completely when you were undeserving. “Making allowance” is living out that same mercy in your relationships Heartlight.
• Active reconciliation – It can involve speaking gently, offering help, and restoring harmony when conflict arises BibleRef.com.

Sometimes our familiarity with terms like ‘forgiveness’ can cause assumptions that hide the practical applications. Assumptions that trick us into thinking we understand when it’s only a surface perception. I realized after returning to ‘make allowances’ time and time again, I had not grasped what that looked like.

And I regret that at 77 years of age, my focus is just now diving deeper. Now, when I ask myself, “What does making allowances look like?” I shift from what I thought I knew to plunging into a deeper understanding of forgiveness! Using the Bible as my point of reference.

After a lifetime of repetitive mistakes, I am compelled to make the effort of applying the 5 practical principles listed above. Goodness, this isn’t going to be easy. But ‘just telling myself the right thing to do is to forgive’ but not blending it with what the verse leads out with is incomplete obedience.

Well, dear readers, may my ingrained incomplete response over most of my life confession, become for you (and for me) a wake up call. Do whatever you feel compelled to do to add the above practical applications to what ‘making allowances’ looks like as you forgive others. It won’t be easy but it will be doable!