For some reason I had this on my heart so this is going to be a different type of blog for me; almost like a journal. I have just been thinking about the Christian walk and reconciliation, and how it is just a huge part of who we are as born again believers.
When we’re born again, we believe we’re reconciled to God, through Jesus Christ. This is a huge first step and should trickle down in our lives, with all of our relationships. It is important to note that the Bible is clear that all people are God’s creation (Colossians 1:16), and that God loves the entire world (John 3:16), but only those who are born again are children of God (John 1:12;11:52; Romans 8:16; 1 John 3:1-10) So God loves everyone equally.
Ephesians 4:32 says Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. I just think of that in all aspects of my life, starting with my wife, probably because that’s the most close knit relationship I will have with anyone while on earth. I think of being reconciled to her when it’s difficult because I feel I am right, and justice needs to be served. Then I think of Ephesians 5:25 which states: Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her… To be a Christian husband is to first be a Christian, and that means understanding that Jesus had every right to handle the Pharisees and make them pay for torturing an innocent man-but He didn’t. I understand this could be taken too far to where the man just becomes passive and I don’t think that’s what God meant for us to do. But as an example for us, He shows us where we can have the freedom to give up those things we might hang on to so closely, in exchange for adopting a characteristic of Christ, and in turn growing closer to Him.
Another aspect I think of for me personally, is with friends. Both non-Christians and Christians require grace from me. I’m sure that I even require more grace myself from them. To me, the point is am I working toward reconciling that relationship for real? For me it is difficult to walk away from any friendship, and it rarely comes down to that, but I have to check myself to make sure I’m doing all I can first. It would be hard to see any person of faith have so many burnt bridges with people and give them any credibility for their ‘reconciled’ relationship with God. It’s not a one way street. It seems to be common these days to have bitter people either leaving one church and go to another, or bitter people as a result of people leaving their church. Unfortunately, when I see a pastor preaching and know that he has those seriously broken bonds with people, it is more difficult for me to not judge, knowing he has those broken ties with others. I think that breaks the heart of God. Doesn’t that also distort the message of the Gospel that we are supposed to share? When the world’s watching, I think it does. I think it would bode well for more people to walk that out and live it, as hard as it might be, so that the world can see God’s love living through His people.
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