What's been on my mind lately? Reconciliation. This is the second half of 2 Corinthians 5, copied from biblegateway.com:
11 Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade others. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience. 12 We are not trying to commend ourselves to you again, but are giving you an opportunity to take pride in us, so that you can answer those who take pride in what is seen rather than in what is in the heart. 13 If we are “out of our mind,” as some say, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. 14 For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.
16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Reconciliation has been on my mind a lot lately, but I didn't have the word for it (reconciliation) in my head until Friday during fellowship where I shared something with my small group and someone mentioned how reconciliation is a very important part of a relationship (whether it be with friends, family, or significant other). For me personally, it's really sad when friends argue or get off on the wrong foot and end up not being able to speak to each other or feel like they could ever go back to that friendship again. When there is tension between myself and someone else, I always feel the urge to go and speak to them and make things better within the week. But there have been times where I felt so hurt by the other person that I felt like I couldn't talk to them, until a lot of time finally past and I was able to reconcile. Although in my experience, the relationship afterwards seems to be better if friends are reconciled as soon as possible. The longer you wait to reconcile, the less comfortable or close I would be with that person.
Looking through this passage has helped me realize that to reconcile is always the right thing to do. If the other person does not feel the same way after you try to reconcile, that is fine - because you forgave them and no longer hold their sins against you. As God has sent Jesus down to Earth to reconcile with us sinners, He has set the ultimate example for us to follow. In order for a relationship to continue healthily, reconciliation must be involved after a dispute or issue between those people. For one thing, we should technically forgive others because Christ forgave us first - and if we do not forgive then we are being hypocrites and being ungrateful for what Jesus has done for us.
11 Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade others. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience. 12 We are not trying to commend ourselves to you again, but are giving you an opportunity to take pride in us, so that you can answer those who take pride in what is seen rather than in what is in the heart. 13 If we are “out of our mind,” as some say, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. 14 For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.
16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Reconciliation has been on my mind a lot lately, but I didn't have the word for it (reconciliation) in my head until Friday during fellowship where I shared something with my small group and someone mentioned how reconciliation is a very important part of a relationship (whether it be with friends, family, or significant other). For me personally, it's really sad when friends argue or get off on the wrong foot and end up not being able to speak to each other or feel like they could ever go back to that friendship again. When there is tension between myself and someone else, I always feel the urge to go and speak to them and make things better within the week. But there have been times where I felt so hurt by the other person that I felt like I couldn't talk to them, until a lot of time finally past and I was able to reconcile. Although in my experience, the relationship afterwards seems to be better if friends are reconciled as soon as possible. The longer you wait to reconcile, the less comfortable or close I would be with that person.
Looking through this passage has helped me realize that to reconcile is always the right thing to do. If the other person does not feel the same way after you try to reconcile, that is fine - because you forgave them and no longer hold their sins against you. As God has sent Jesus down to Earth to reconcile with us sinners, He has set the ultimate example for us to follow. In order for a relationship to continue healthily, reconciliation must be involved after a dispute or issue between those people. For one thing, we should technically forgive others because Christ forgave us first - and if we do not forgive then we are being hypocrites and being ungrateful for what Jesus has done for us.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Feel free to leave a comment.