🌟WEB · Colossians 3:13
What does Colossians 3:13 mean?
"bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, if any man has a complaint against any; even as Christ forgave you, so you also do."
— Colossians 3:13 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
and have put on the new man, who is being renewed in knowledge after the image of his Creator,
where there can’t be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bondservant, freeman; but Christ is all, and in all.
Put on therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, lowliness, humility, and perseverance;
bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, if any man has a complaint against any; even as Christ forgave you, so you also do.
Above all these things, walk in love, which is the bond of perfection.
And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your heart to the Lord.
Explanation
Colossians 3:13 calls believers to two closely related practices: bearing with one another and forgiving one another. "Bearing with" means patiently putting up with the irritations, weaknesses, and differences that naturally arise when people live and work closely together. Forgiveness goes further—it addresses actual wrongs, grievances, or offenses that one person holds against another. Paul makes clear this isn't optional or conditional on the offender deserving it; the standard is Christ's own forgiveness toward us, which was costly, undeserved, and complete.
This verse comes from a letter Paul wrote to the church at Colossae, a congregation he likely never visited in person but cared for deeply, partly through his co-worker Epaphras. The letter's broader purpose was to correct false teaching that threatened to distort the church's understanding of who Christ is and how believers should live in response. Colossians 3 shifts from doctrine to practical ethics—Paul has just described believers as having "put off" the old self and "put on" the new self in Christ (3:9-10). Verse 13 sits within a list of virtues (compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, patience) that should characterize this new life, particularly within the community of faith.
Theologically, the verse ties Christian ethics directly to the gospel itself. Believers are not told to forgive simply because it's a good moral principle, but because they have already been forgiven by Christ. This reframes forgiveness as a response to grace received rather than a debt owed to others. It also assumes conflict and grievance are normal parts of community life
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