If you have been putting off going to another person to try to achieve reconciliation with him, you have wronged him. ~ Jay Adams
We must take the initiative to restore peace. Jesus taught that it makes no difference whether you have wronged your brother or he has wronged you. Either way, you are always responsible to initiate efforts toward peace (see Matthew 5:23-24 and 18:15). If we are serious about intently pursuing peace, we won’t be concerned about which of us is the offending party. We will have one goal: To restore peace in a godly manner. Unresolved conflict between believers is sin and must be treated as such; otherwise, it will spread throughout the body like cancer until it requires radical spiritual surgery. ~ Jerry Bridges
Time heals things. We’ve heard that many times. And occasionally it is true that people’s emotions die down and they lose the heart to disagree or fight. But to depend on time alone in the body of Christ to mend church problems is a very dangerous path. More often than not the problems only fester, become more serious, and then explode. ~ Curtis C. Thomas
Because peace is a fruit of the Spirit, we are dependent upon the Spirit’s work in our lives to produce the desire and the means to pursue peace. But we are also responsible to use the means He has given us and to take all practical steps to attain both peace within and peace with others. ~ Jerry Bridges
It is one of the severest tests of friendship to tell your friend his faults. So to love a man that you cannot bear to see a stain upon him, and to speak painful truth through loving words, that is friendship. ~Henry Ward Beecher
Divisions in the church always breed atheism in the world. ~ Thomas Manton
The more fractured we are, the greater we become spectacles to the world. The more we are united in love, the more the world sees Christ. ~ Curtis C. Thomas
Fractured fellowship robs Christians of joy and effectiveness, robs God of glory, and robs the world of the true testimony of the gospel. A high price for an ego trip! ~ John MacArthur
Why is it that you harbor strife, bad temper, dissention, schism, and quarreling? Do we not have one God, one Christ, one Spirit of grace which was poured out on us? ~ Clement of Rome
Jesus won’t allow the unreconciled condition to continue among believers. In Matthew 5, if another considers you to have wronged him, Jesus says that you must go. In Matthew 18, He says that if the other person has done something wrong to you, you must go. There is never a time when you can sit and wait for your brother to come to you. Jesus doesn’t allow for that. He gives no opportunity for that. It is always your obligation to go. ~Jay Adams
Last week’s Ten For Tuesday: On Forgiveness
I love these statements. I have been living with this attitude toward people for some time now and seem to always ‘cop’ criticism for doing so. The scripture that stung me is ‘if your brother has ought against you, leave your gift by the altar and first go to your brother and make peace with him’. this was a mind opening statement, how do I know who has ought against me if I’m not told. I asked God how to do this, my phone rings often now from people both knowing of or being offended by me whether or not I am the cause. I thank God that He has indeed planted in me the seeds of reconciliation (2 Corinth. 5) as peacemaking is my hearts desire toward all whom I know and meet. Time is now and our clock ticks, We must submit ‘our’ hearts and attitudes to God and let His compassion reign in our lives.