Reconciliation Is Not Just a Nice Thought

By Harold & Bette Gillogly

God commands us to be reconciled to one another.  It’s a command, not just a nice goal to think about or wish for.  Each of us is commanded to reconcile with both the one who offended us (Matthew 18:15) AND the one we offended (Matthew 523-24).  Whoa!  Even if your spouse started it?  Don’t they have to be the one to seek reconciliation first?  Nope.  God says no matter who started it, each of us has the responsibility to end it.

Taking responsibility for reconciliation means you humble yourself enough to ask your spouse for forgiveness for your part of the fight.   Even if you didn’t start it, you contributed to it, didn’t you?  Be honest.  And ask forgiveness for your reaction and maybe even retaliation.  Doing this opens the door for your spouse to apologize and seek your forgiveness.  Somebody has to get the ball rolling.  Humble yourself.  Step up to the plate and do it!  Doing things God’s way (obedience) always leads to the best possible results.

If you would like to explore more about reconciliation, we encourage you to go to the following articles: “Forgiveness” by Patrick and Dwaina Six and “The Faces of Forgiveness Part 1 and The Faces of Forgiveness Part 2” by Harold and Bette Gillogly.

Forgiveness is also dealt with in our How to Handle Anger Webinar series found at: https://marriages.net/how-to-deal-with-anger-3-webinar-series/