Imagine that one of your siblings received a trip to Europe with your parents, along with a new iPad, while the rest of you are left at home to work and look after the house. Such a demonstration of favoritism is a ticket for divisiveness and disaster.
Jacob had been his mother Rebekah’s darling son, and this preferential treatment fueled a family rift and years of pain.
Read More reconciliation, belonging, favouritism
In the memoirs of Pierre Van Paasen there’s a story about Nazi storm troopers who seized an elderly Jewish rabbi and dragged him to headquarters, to a room where another Jew was being beaten to death. Then, stripped naked, he was ordered to preach the sermon he’d prepared for the Sabbath. The rabbi asked for his yarmulke, and the Nazis, grinning, agreed. Poked and prodded by his captors, the trembling rabbi delivered, to the cries of his dying neighbor, a sermon on humility.
Read More Christ’s death, reconciliation, surrender
What a selfish, vengeful, adversarial world we live in!
We are so determined to demand our rights, prove our point, get what’s ours, or make sure that the person who has harmed us is punished that lawyers need never fear going hungry.
Who’s right? Who’s wrong? Who’s to blame? And especially, who is going to pay?
Read More mercy, reconciliation, peace
“Come, let us return to the Lord … let us press on to know the Lord” (6:1,3).
It’s one thing to consider that God takes an interest in human beings, encouraging us to follow his paths and allowing negative consequences to occur when we don’t.
Read More return, reconciliation, love
The average response time after an emergency call is eight minutes or less. We are hardwired to respond quickly when danger is imminent. The same attention to urgency ought to be heeded in the spiritual realm as it is in the physical.
‘Indeed, the “right time” is now. Today is the day of salvation’ (2:6a NLT).
Read More reconciliation, urgencyTwo millennia before the concept of individual learning styles became prominent in teaching, Paul emphasized the importance of truth being seen and experienced, as well as heard. Having enthralled the Philippians with the wonder of their salvation and hope of glorious future transformation, he earths his words in gritty practicality and pastoral warmth.
Read More joy, beauty, reconciliation, gentleness, goodness, thanksgiving
If you have ever had a deep conflict with another person, you know the deep emotional pain that comes with it. There are seasons of anger that are often accompanied by deep grief over a broken relationship. On the other side of this conflict is the joy that comes when we are reconciled with another person – when everything is in the open and love and grace freely flow.
Read More joy, forgiveness, conflict, reconciliation, confession, emotional pain
Many would shake their head at this proverb. The natural human impulse is usually to stay away from one’s enemy. But the Lord, loving and compassionate, has a different view on the matter.
Read More reconciliation, love your enemy