I recently had a conflict with a friend of mine, and after considering how I thought I should handle the situation, the Lord graciously reminded me that He had a bigger and more glorious plan for this relationship. I should earnestly seek reconciliation with her, just as my Savior, Jesus Christ, has done with us.
What does it mean to be reconciled? Merriam Webster describes it as restoring friendship or harmony. Scripture supplies us with the reason for reconciliation.
2 Corinthians 5:17-21
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
There is so much packed into these 6 verses, but what I want to highlight is our role. Through Christ, we have been reconciled to God, and likewise have the responsibility to be reconciled with others with the end goal of bringing them to Christ, so that their souls may be reconciled.
After I asked my friend for forgiveness and our relationship was restored, I felt so much relief. It’s amazing the benefits we experience when we’re obedient!
- Alex Dugas