Shall We Reconcile?

   Tough relationships are inevitable. Sin alienates people from God and from one another. 

   Not getting along? We must deal with our sin. 

   The good news is that God has already done this: Therefore 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. - 2 Corinthians 5:17-18

   If we reconcile to God, we can reconcile with others.

   In Living Reconciled, by P. Brian Noble, we read seven attitudes that are not natural to us, but which characterize those committed to the ministry of reconciliation.   

1. I am controlled by Christ's love.

2. I no longer live for myself. 

3. I recognize no one according to the flesh. 

4. I see others as brand new.

5. I have a ministry.

6. I have stopped counting people's offensives.

7. I am a reconciler. 

   Although the book doesn't directly address social conflicts we have experienced over the past two years, what it says about conflicts is a welcome first step. 

   "injustice will come," wrote the author, "and you can still practice righteousness."

WORLD magazine

          Jimmy