by Jen González on Tuesday, June 14th 2011
Has your brother or sister in Christ offended you? Are you holding it against him/her? Have you even said anything to him/her about it? Are you avoiding him/her?
JESUS said in Luke 17:3-4 “If another BELIEVER SINS AGAINST YOU, rebuke that person (rebuke here means to bring it to their attention, not to be hard on them or harsh for the sake of being harsh but to let them know you were offended; to communicate it with the intention of seeking reconciliation); then IF THERE IS REPENTANCE, FORGIVE. (Forgiving is a command not an option) 4 Even if that person wrongs you seven times a day and each time turns again and asks forgiveness, YOU MUST FORGIVE.”
Division continues to wreak havoc in our churches today. There are a lot of issues among believers because of simple misunderstandings or because of a lack of communication. Jesus here gives us specific instructions on HOW TO RESOLVE CONFLICT AMONG BELIEVERS. In Luke 17:3-4, He says “if your brother has sinned against you” in this case; it's as if they seem to be completely unaware of it. So Jesus tells the person that is offended what to do. has this ever happened to you? You find out that someone is offended with you and you had NO CLUE! Well, that's when we have to put aside our fears of rejection and conflict and put aside all the excuses and seek out our brother and look to comunicate with them with the purpose of reconcliing with them. Comunicating with the persons that have offended us is key, but not before we've gone to the Lord in prayer and released them from the offense. We also need to be ready to apologize for jumping to conclusions. Maybe we simply misunderstood the person, maybe he/she never meant (whatever they did) to purposefully hurt us. Maybe....but we won't know until we TALK to the person that has offended us.
But what about when we know, or we find out that our brother is offended with us? What then? Jesus taught us in Mathew 5:21-26 about being angry with our brother and what to do if we remember they are upset with us…He says in v.23-24 “So if you are presenting a sacrifice at the altar in the Temple and YOU SUDDENLY REMEMBER THAT SOMEONE HAS SOMETHING AGAINST YOU, 24 LEAVE YOUR SACRIFICE THERE AT THE ALTAR. GO AND BE RECONCILED TO THAT PERSON. Then come and offer your sacrifice to God.”
Has your brother or sister in Christ offended you? Are you holding it against him/her? Have you even said anything to him/her about it? Are you avoiding him/her?
JESUS said in Luke 17:3-4 “If another BELIEVER SINS AGAINST YOU, rebuke that person (rebuke here means to bring it to their attention, not to be hard on them or harsh for the sake of being harsh but to let them know you were offended; to communicate it with the intention of seeking reconciliation); then IF THERE IS REPENTANCE, FORGIVE. (Forgiving is a command not an option) 4 Even if that person wrongs you seven times a day and each time turns again and asks forgiveness, YOU MUST FORGIVE.”
Division continues to wreak havoc in our churches today. There are a lot of issues among believers because of simple misunderstandings or because of a lack of communication. Jesus here gives us specific instructions on HOW TO RESOLVE CONFLICT AMONG BELIEVERS. In Luke 17:3-4, He says “if your brother has sinned against you” in this case; it's as if they seem to be completely unaware of it. So Jesus tells the person that is offended what to do. has this ever happened to you? You find out that someone is offended with you and you had NO CLUE! Well, that's when we have to put aside our fears of rejection and conflict and put aside all the excuses and seek out our brother and look to comunicate with them with the purpose of reconcliing with them. Comunicating with the persons that have offended us is key, but not before we've gone to the Lord in prayer and released them from the offense. We also need to be ready to apologize for jumping to conclusions. Maybe we simply misunderstood the person, maybe he/she never meant (whatever they did) to purposefully hurt us. Maybe....but we won't know until we TALK to the person that has offended us.
But what about when we know, or we find out that our brother is offended with us? What then? Jesus taught us in Mathew 5:21-26 about being angry with our brother and what to do if we remember they are upset with us…He says in v.23-24 “So if you are presenting a sacrifice at the altar in the Temple and YOU SUDDENLY REMEMBER THAT SOMEONE HAS SOMETHING AGAINST YOU, 24 LEAVE YOUR SACRIFICE THERE AT THE ALTAR. GO AND BE RECONCILED TO THAT PERSON. Then come and offer your sacrifice to God.”
