美國退役海軍上將威廉．麥克雷文（William McRaven）出身自海豹部隊。他在某個畢業典禮上致詞，談及每天整理床鋪，典禮影片的瀏覽量高達一億次。但他也曾分享另一個同樣重要的功課。麥克雷文悲傷地承認，他們在一次中東軍事行動中，誤殺了一個無辜家庭的數名成員。他認為那個家庭應得到真誠的道歉，因此他勇敢地向那位傷心的父親請求原諒。

麥克雷文透過翻譯員告訴那位父親：「我是一名軍人，我也有孩子，我為你感到悲痛。」對方作何反應呢？他以寬厚的恩慈饒恕了麥克雷文。這位父親倖存的兒子對麥克雷文說：「非常感謝你。我們將不會對你心存恨意。」

使徒保羅的書信也談到如此寬厚的恩慈：「你們既是上帝的選民、聖潔蒙愛的人，就要存憐憫、恩慈、謙虛、溫柔、忍耐的心」（歌羅西書3章12節）。保羅深知基督徒在生活中會遇到種種考驗，因此教導歌羅西教會的信徒：「倘若這人與那人有嫌隙，總要彼此包容，彼此饒恕；主怎樣饒恕了你們，你們也要怎樣饒恕人。」（13節）

是什麼能讓我們擁有如此憐憫、寬容的心呢？是上帝寬厚的愛。正如保羅說：「在這一切之外，要存著愛心，愛心就是聯絡全德的。」（14節）

He’s known as the military man whose commencement speech about making your bed every day got 100 million views online. But retired Navy Seal Admiral William McRaven shares another lesson just as compelling. During a military operation in the Middle East, McRaven has sadly acknowledged that several members of an innocent family were mistakenly killed. Believing the family was owed a sincere apology, McRaven dared to ask the heartbroken father for forgiveness.

“I’m a soldier,” McRaven told him through a translator. “But I have children as well, and my heart grieves for you.” The man’s response? He granted McRaven the generous gift of forgiveness. As the man’s surviving son told him, “Thank you very much. We will not keep anything in our heart against you.”

The apostle Paul wrote of such generous grace: “As God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience” (Colossians 3:12). He knew that life would test us in various ways, so he instructed believers in the church at Colossae: “Forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you” (v. 13).

What enables us to have such compassionate, forgiving hearts? God’s generous love. As Paul concluded, “Over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity” (v. 14).