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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