Discover the joy of being tolerant.

Abandon all bitterness, anger and anger, shouting and slander, and all forms of malice.
Rather, be kind and compassionate to one another, and forgive each other, just as God forgave you in Christ. Ephesians 4: 31-32

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Intolerance generates conflicts in personal relationships. It consists of the difficulty that many people have to accept the opinions, attitudes and behaviors of others, perceiving that they are different from their own.

Being intolerant goes against what the Word of the Lord says, as the apostle Paul pointed out: "I beg you to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received, always humble and kind, patient, tolerant of one another in love. Strive to maintain the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace "(Eph 4: 1-3).

During his earthly ministry, Jesus demonstrated the tolerance that each child of God must have. Although he never condescended or excused sin, he was able to sit at the table with tax collectors, allowed a sinful woman to wash his feet, and sympathized with the nature of the children when he asked his disciples to let him approach him.

In the time of Jesus, intolerance and prejudice abounded. For example, Jews and Samaritans hated each other (John 4: 9). It was also considered that women were inferior to men. And, to make matters worse, Jewish religious leaders despised ordinary people (John 7:49). However, Jesus Christ was a completely different man. In fact, his enemies criticized him saying: "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them" (Luke 15: 2). Jesus was kind, patient and tolerant; She did not judge people but wanted to help her to know God. Everything he did, he did because he loved people (John 3:17, 13:34).

Throughout the world, racial prejudice and nationalist, tribal and religious fanaticisms have stoked the winds of intolerance.

Love is the key to being more tolerant, because it opens our mind and heart to accept others despite their imperfections and differences. That is why the Bible advises: "Continue to bear each other and freely forgiving one another if anyone has cause to complain against another" (Colossians 3:13).

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Tolerance, it can be said, is a virtue or ability to accept and know how to listen to other people, taking into account and assessing, the different ways of understanding, and locating oneself in a social environment. As long as our human rights are not violated or affected by another person.

Being tolerant means giving the benefit of the doubt to your offenders and taking into account extenuating circumstances. People change and grow over the years, so do not cling to an opinion of them limited, based exclusively on their past behaviors; try to see them as they are today. Most try to do things as well as possible, in line with the knowledge and understanding they have acquired. Therefore, do not be so severe in your judgments.

The writer Mac Anderson explains: "There have been times in my life when they offended me. My first reaction was anger and resentment, I felt that my stomach was closing, I lost my appetite and my joy vanished, as if I had played the first time of a basketball game wearing steel shoes. Then in the locker room, the coach told me: "Look, put on these new and soft Nikes for the second time". If you multiply that feeling of relief by ten, you will understand what it means to download your emotional baggage with the power of forgiveness.

Do not try to take revenge for your own hand, but let it be God who imposes the punishment that corresponds to each case (Romans 12:19 Castilian).

However, we must be careful not to abuse the concept. It is not convenient to forgive faults in character or lower standards of behavior in the name of tolerance. That is misunderstanding tolerance. And yet, many people will turn to it to bypass moral values. Tolerance is perhaps allowing our children to choose colors that do not match in their wardrobe, but nobody can dismiss us as intolerant because we do not allow them to live in promiscuity.

Tolerance is not to lower high moral standards to make others feel more comfortable, but to maintain high standards and motivate others to develop an acceptable character without rejecting them when they fail. It is not about forgiving failure, but about understanding that failure is necessary in everyone's life and that it is inevitable in growth.

What is the limit to know what is permissible to accept and what can not be tolerated? The answer can be found in the Bible: sin.

It is clear then that we can not allow sin, but we can encourage the people who commit them to repent, without rejecting them for their failures.

Returning to what is tolerance, we must be careful not to judge. Nobody set us up as judges and we lack the moral authority (remember that we are all sinners) to dictate a sentence. Do you bother other people's ideas very easily? Are you upset by the peculiarities and characteristics of others? Watch out! Maybe he is lacking some tolerance. Remember that we tend to be very tolerant of our own mistakes and critical of those of others. Jesus said, "Why do you look at the straw that is in your brother's eye and you do not see the beam that is in your own eye?" (Luke 6:41).

Let's see an example in the home. There is a family member who does not collect his possessions (in fact he deposits them in the most inappropriate places) and this irritates the other members of the family. Do you know someone like that? Who does not leave things in their place, who has his room in complete disorder, who does not collaborate with family duties or does it in a bad way and without care, etc. What should a father do? Before answering remember that an explosion of bad character does not help growth, it atrophies it. The child / adolescent who witnesses the verbal violence of their parents will eventually end up answering in the same way. A parent should respond with soft but firm and clear words that the disorder is picked up or the task is done.

Tolerance arises from a humble heart and converted thanks to the love of God. Tolerance is the ability we have to be sensitive to the needs of others, and respectful of their opinions, even if they do not agree with ours. The apostle Paul's counsel in this regard is: "As God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, put on tender affection and kindness, humility, kindness and patience, so that they will tolerate one another and forgive each other if anyone has a complaint against another . As the Lord forgave you, forgive you too.

Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which is the perfect bond "(Col. 3: 12-14).

Daily coexistence with our family, with our co-workers, with friends, with bosses and neighbors, requires a certain degree of tolerance. Sometimes we are even intolerant of ourselves. Our self-love is deteriorated, and that prevents us from accepting and accepting others as they are.

Friend, how is the relationship with your husband, your children, your friends? Do you have difficulties to relate to them? If so, humbly kneel before the Lord and ask him to heal the sick part of your soul, and give him the ability to accept others as they are.

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