Welcome to today's encouragement from Our Daily Bread.

Our reading titled God's Generous Love was written by Patricia Raybon.

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 in Colossians 3.

As God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.

He knew that life would test us in various ways, so he instructed believers in the church at Colosse.

Forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone.

Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

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.

Today's Our Daily Bread Devotional Scripture reading is from Colossians chapter 3, verses 12 through 17.

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