Reconciliation |
God's View:
2 Cor. 7:11
-A hatred of evil deepens our passion for repentance that
increases earnestness and produces eagerness to clear ourselves, and to see
that justice is done. But a hatred of the hope of restoration is a hatred
of beauty because it saps one through contempt, bitterness and cynicism.
This produces hardness resulting in denial of emotions and distorts our ability
to experience moments of joy and exaltation. Once beauty of restoration is
denied then nothing exist but my own selfish pleasures in the present.
Hope:
Matt. 10:39
; Lu. 9:24
-Refusing to forgive or to be reconciled is
to lose one's life. To see that all the trials, the pains and the sufferings
of this life are but means for me to die to my own self-centeredness and
self-importance, and to better understand what God has for me to learn about
loving others and Him, this is the meaning of the struggles we have in life.
To do otherwise is to fill the empty parts of our soul with food, sex,
people-pleasing or people hating activities.
Rom. 8:28-29 -Good hope is that greater good will prevail no matter how awful the awful remains. Good hope, regarding any tragedy, is in the present power of the moment to press us beyond the struggle of the day to the day of beauty and justice. A rich vision of hope intensifies our desire to live courageously today. Thus, take pressure off self, it is God only Who causes changes in people and or circumstances. Changes occur through repentance and a touch of God's grace, no one can produce repentance in another's heart but God.
Prov. 20:30 -Love may pardon an offense but does not ignore the ugliness and arrogance. To pretend is to distance truth but love may demand change. Love may bring consequences for a failure to change. Love may withhold involvement until beauty is restored. Love may limit the other for the sake of a greater good.
Change:
Rom. 12:19
-Illicit revenge is making someone pay now without
any desire for reconciliation but revenge can be legitimate when it involves
a desire for justice, to see ugliness destroyed, wrongs righted and beauty
restored. It is not 'getting even' but 'getting restored'.
Matt. 7:21-23 ; Rom. 12:17 -Desire for revenge is legitimate, people must pay for their sins either on earth or in hell. Many who call themselves christian may not be. In any case, our position should always be one toward brokenness and restoration since the unrepentant will be destroyed in God's final sweep of wrath. We who have been forgiven much should be compelled to prod evildoers-Christian or not-toward brokenness and restoration.
Rom. 12:20-21 ; Ps. 69:22-28 -Don't pretend that you do not desire revenge because it is a reflection of longing for justice. It is a battle cry that asks God to intervene to destroy that which mars beauty and loving the offender to repentance.
Matt. 7:1-5 -Don't seek to destroy evil in others until you seek first to destroy evil in yourself.
Gal. 6:1
; Jn. 22:23
-Don't withhold good from those who do you harm. Do good
in order to unnerve evil.