Good morning to you and you and you. Here is some food for thought as we look at our daily devotion. Mending Broken Relationships AND THE POWER OF FORGIVENESS A couple of years ago Kaye wrote a powerful article on Forgiveness. It was published and has been used in several different venues. Check this devotion out today and let me know what you think about Mending Broken Relationships and The Power of Forgiveness. Enjoy. Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift (Matthew 5:23-24 NIV). Broken relationships scattered along the way can and should be mended. You and I have invested too heavily in relationships, friendships, and marriage. Lets not junk them or abandon them or toss them aside like an old piece of furniture. They are valuable and can be restored. Heres how. Take the Initiative. As difficult as it sounds, you must begin the restorative process. Two unmarried sisters had a bitter argument and they stopped speaking to each other. Unable or unwilling to leave their small home, they continued to use the same rooms and sleep in the same bedroom. A chalk line divided the sleeping area into two halves, separating doorway and fireplace, so that each could come and go and get her own meals without trespassing on her sisters domain. In the black of night each could hear the breathing of the foe. For years they co-existed in grinding silence. Neither was willing to take the first step to reconciliation. How many husbands and wives, or parents and children, or brothers and sisters, or friends exist in the same grinding silence because one is not willing to take the initiative to mend the relationship? Die to self. A price is paid for restoration: Swallow your pride. Humble yourself. Bury the hatchet. Reconciliation requires the death of someone. The Bible calls it a death to self, surrendering your pride and self-centeredness. Pride keeps our necks stiff and our backs straight, a posture that has trouble bending to reach out to others. Self-centeredness determines restrained and reserved actions that prevent us from performing the right action. Reconciliation continues as we forgo our stubbornness and admit our mistakes. Then we must reach out in love. Become vulnerable. In relationships you and I will be hurt again, and again, and again. People let us down, disappoint us, and trample our emotions. It would be easy to crawl into a shell and live in isolation. Here, we would be safe from the pain and hurt of this world but shut out from all humanity. C. S. Lewis in The Four Loves wrote, To love is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket-safe, dark, motionless, airless-it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. (C. S. Lewis, The Four Loves (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1960), p. 169.) To restore relationships we must strip away the veneer of superficiality. We must open up ourselves. We must remove Feelings and Emotions if we want to move on and enjoy life. Offer forgiveness. At its root, forgiveness means to let go. It is not just probation but a pardon. It is to cast the wrong in the sea and hang a no fishing sign. Forgiveness means that we do not require any money or words or actions as payment. It means there will be no continuing resentment or bitterness. Forgiveness is the responsibility of every Christian. It is not optional, but necessary in mending broken relationships. In one of my therapy groups I ask this question: Are there any current events in your life that interfere with your spirituality and relationship with God, another person or with yourself? Take some time today to think about it! Enjoy. Dr. Nevalon Mitchell
Posted on: Tue, 19 Aug 2014 12:39:01 +0000
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