Reconciliation
I met with a good friend today with whom I had a major difference of opinion. The issue wasn’t monumental, but it was serious enough that it may have strained our relationship. At a certain point we determined to close the objection between us and simply respect the right to have different opinions. Today we met, had a chat and prayed together.
This may seem like a small matter. It may also seem as if this would be normative behaviour for mature believers. I have seen, however, good friends and good believers lose at this point. Some differences go on so long the original issue is lost in their recollection. Perhaps you know people like this too. Let’s be on guard to remember that our relationships are more important than our opinions or preferences. I believe God will be pleased.
Genesis 13:8
So Abram said to Lot, “Let’s not have any quarreling between you and me, or between your herdsmen and mine, for we are brothers.
Reconciliation – I used to despise that word, it meant conversations in tears and shame. I’ve seen someone forgive another what I thought was unforgivable; that became my bar – which I fall short of regularly – for reconciliation. The word is a reset button for my actions and attitude; if all the grievances in the church were dealt with… one can dream.
Happy New Year dear Knaggs’!
And Happy New Year to you, Mhairi.
Many barriers come between people – race, social status, personality differences, different values, but Christ can break down them all.
Ephesian 2:13-16 Now because of Christ—dying that death, shedding that blood—you who were once out of it altogether are in on everything. The Messiah has made things up between us so that we’re now together on this, both non-Jewish outsiders and Jewish insiders. He tore down the wall we used to keep each other at a distance. He repealed the law code that had become so clogged with fine print and footnotes that it hindered more than it helped. Then he started over. Instead of continuing with two groups of people separated by centuries of animosity and suspicion, he created a new kind of human being, a fresh start for everybody. Christ brought us together through his death on the Cross. The Cross got us to embrace, and that was the end of the hostility.
Your a good man TC, passion in an opinion is no crime, passion does so often reflect committment to an ideal or principle, with respect, I chuckle and salute your challenger. God bless you both.
Thanks, David. I value our friendship.
Reconciliation
If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. (2 Corinthians 5:17-20 – NIV)
Thanks, Jeremy. Good word.
Dear Jim and Carolyn, We are among many who pray for you often and support the bold leadership you are giving to our territory. We hope that you are both well and very much aware of God’s blessing in these days. Lift up your hearts!
Thank you, Commissioners. Prayer and friends…just what we need. God bless you.