Living Reconciledናሙና

Day Seven: Courageous Attitude 7—You Are a Reconciler

God has ordained you for days of reconciliation. He has created you for peace and to be a reconciler. I know reconciliation is not easy. I know it can be hard to comprehend. However, never confuse the fallenness of this world for the perfect plan of God. You are not home yet. You are in this world but not of it. My encouragement to you is when you finally get to go home, be ready to leave without regrets.

We are Christ’s envoys, representatives, and messengers to the world—His ambassadors. That title has many implications, but rest for a moment in that truth. Wherever you live in this world, whatever country your passport declares, you are not actually a citizen of that country. You are a citizen of God’s kingdom. You are a stranger, an alien, an immigrant, an ambassador in this world. Your citizenship is in heaven.

What does that have to do with relationships, conflict, and being a reconciler? Everything. You will respond differently if you understand you are a representative of God Most High to the person you are in conflict with. In fact, in the context of today’s Scripture, that is exactly what Paul is speaking about to the Corinthians. We are God’s ambassadors. We cannot afford to squander that honor or responsibility.

2 Corinthians 5:20 says God is using our ambassadorship “as though God were making an appeal through us.” This appeal is about our salvation and about our relationships with each other. Yes, God desires that we see people reconciled with Him. But God also desires that we be reconciled with each other. This I know: if you are reconciled to God, you will be willing to reconcile with others.

Forgiveness and reconciliation must be intertwined, but how does that work? Forgiveness is extending grace and letting go by canceling a debt. Reconciliation is Jesus paying that debt by taking our sin upon Himself and becoming our atonement, and us subsequently changing—becoming new—in Him.

Be at peace with God, be reconciled to God. Be at peace with others. Be reconciled to others. You can be reconciled with others because of Jesus, even if they do not want to be reconciled with you. You may not have a complete reinstatement of the relationship, but you can give the injustice to God and no longer hold bitterness, anger, resentment, or wrath toward the other person.

Had you thought of yourself as an ambassador for Christ—an agent of reconciliation? How does this biblical perspective provide you with strength? Challenge you?