Your Ministry of Reconciliation

CURRENT TEACHING SERIES The Keys to a Blessed Life   Your Ministry of Reconciliation By Rick Warren — Nov 8, 2015 “[God] has restored our relationship with him through Christ, and has given us this ministry of restoring relationships. In other words, God was using Christ to restore his relationship with humanity. He didn’t hold people’s faults against them, and he has given us this message of restored relationships to tell others.” (2 Corinthians 5:18-19 GW) When you want to repair a relationship where there is conflict, you have to focus on reconciliation, not resolution. There’s a big difference! Reconciliation means reestablishing the relationship. It doesn’t mean you’ll remarry your ex; it just means you’re at peace with each other. Resolution means you resolve every disagreement, and that just isn’t going to happen. Because the truth is, there are some things in your marriage, your friendships, and your work relationships that you’re just never going to agree on, because we’re all different. But you can disagree without being disagreeable. That’s called maturity. That’s called wisdom. That’s called being like Christ. We can have unity without uniformity. We can walk hand in hand together without seeing eye to eye. My wife Kay and I have been married 40 years, and we don’t see eye to eye on a lot of things. But we walk hand in hand and support each other. We are at peace. Here’s what I’ve learned from counseling marriages: If you focus on restoring your relationship, oftentimes the issue becomes insignificant. How many of your biggest arguments were over the smallest things? They weren’t really about that. You need to get back to focusing on the relationship. There’s a lot of conflict in the world. It’s filled with wars, division, arguments, prejudice and racism, terrorism, and partisanism. And as a result we have broken relationships. We have a broken economy. We have a broken government. We have broken marriages. And we have broken lives and broken hearts. I challenge you as a believer to commit to becoming an agent of reconciliation in a world filled with conflict. Become a bridge builder, not a wall builder. Look for ways to bring people together rather than tear them up. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5:18-19, “[God] has restored our relationship with him through Christ, and has given us this ministry of restoring relationships. In other words, God was using Christ to restore his relationship with humanity. He didn’t hold people’s faults against them, and he has given us this message of restored relationships to tell others” (GW). If you are a follower of Jesus Christ, you have a ministry of reconciliation. It’s your job to go out in society and say, “God’s done everything to put you back in fellowship with him. He’s already paid for all your sins. You don’t have to be his enemy. He’s not mad at you; he’s mad about you. Be reconciled to God. Be at peace with God. Then spread that peace with everybody else.” PLAY today’s audio teaching from Pastor Rick >> Talk It Over What is a point of contention in your marriage or a friendship that you have not been able to resolve? What steps do you need to take to focus more on that relationship and reconciliation instead of resolving the issue? How can you work to become an agent of reconciliation right where you are in your family, work, and community? Today’s Scripture “When you draw close to God, God will draw close to you...” (James 4:8, TLB) SHARE WITH YOUR FRIENDS Draw Closer to Your God There’s a story in the Bible about a prodigal son who returned home to his father. When the father saw him a long way off, he began running toward his son with his arms outstretched. This story gives us an example of how God is always ready to receive us with outstretched arms. God promises that He will draw close to you when you draw closer to Him. How do we draw close to Him? By making time to pray, reading the Bible, and worshiping every day. By meditating on His promises. By attending a good, Bible-based church. By putting Him first place in everything that you do. The easiest way is to simply call on His name. The good news is that when you take that first step toward Him, He will come running toward you! A Prayer for Today “Father, thank You for drawing close to me as I take a step toward You. Give me the strength to serve You and always put You first in Jesus’ name. Amen.”