against you , note what Jesus taught :
Mat 18:15 - “ If your brother sins against you , go and tell him his fault , between you and him alone . If he listens to you , you have gained your brother .”
Jesus taught that we need to do something about the brother who has sinned against us . We should gently point out the fault . We should not take it to heart . Many of us fail in this area miserably . We keep a lot of things in our heart and develop bitter feelings toward others .
Again , when someone accuses us of some wrong doing and goes to the court , note what Jesus admonishes :
Mat 5:25 - “ Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court , lest your accuser hand you over to the judge , and the judge to the guard , and you be put in prison .”
Here again we find Jesus urging for action . Hence reconciliation is an act that should be done immediately .
Many of us have problems in relationships with others because of the careless words that we speak .
Mat 5:22 - “ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment ; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council ; and whoever says , ' You fool !' will be liable to the hell of fire .”
Jesus here warned of three kinds of punishments judgment , council and hell- fire . All these three judgments were due to the wrong words that were spoken towards others . If we have hurt other by our words , let us first be reconciled with them . If we want a closer walk with God and if we want our offerings to be accepted in His sight , we need to , first be reconciled with people .
2 . Reconciliation Brings Joy and Revival
We pray for revival and hear many sermons about revival . Truly , we need revival in our personal lives , families and in our fellowships and Churches . But revival seems to elude us . One of the reasons we don ' t see the mighty move of the Spirit is that we still are not right with people . May be we argue that we are right before God but we have not fulfilled our responsibility toward men .
We go to Church and pray for revival . But we do not want to see each other face-to-face . We have so much against so many but still pray for revival . How can we expect revival when our life is not right with people ? We all know the parable of the lost son . Note how he prayed :
Luke 15:21 - 24 - “ The son said to him , ' Father , I have sinned against heaven and before you . I am no longer worthy to be called your son .' But the father said to his servants , ' Bring quickly the best robe , and put it on him , and put a ring on his hand , and shoes on his feet . And bring the fattened calf and kill it , and let us eat and celebrate . For this my son was dead , and is alive again ; he was lost , and is found .' And they began to celebrate .”
The prodigal son confessed that he not only sinned against God but also his father . Many a time we fail to see this truth . We think our sins affect only God . But our sins are not only against God but also against people . We cannot say that we have confessed all our sins to God . We should also set things right before people . When the prodigal son returned to his father there was joy in the household ( Luk 15:23 ). This is the true revival . And true revival brings joy !
“ Will you not revive us again , that your people may rejoice in you ?” ( Ps 85:6 )
Today we worship God without joy . There is no joy in our families and fellowships because we do not enjoy good peaceful relationships with one another . Let us take the first step . Let us forget who we are and set aside our egos and bring peace to our families and fellowships .
When we become right with God and also with man , God sends the revival . On the day of Pentecost the people were with one mind and one heart ( Acts 2:1 ). There was neither fighting nor jealousy . They were with one mind . And God the Holy Spirit was
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