“Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.” 2 Corinthians 5:18-19

God’s Pleading

Part 2

I’ve gotten pretty good at apologizing for things I’ve said and done. I’ve had lots of practice. I remember a time when it is was so hard to look a person in the eye and tell them I’m sorry, and ask for forgiveness. I also remember a time when it was hard to allow a person to ask me to forgive them, and then to forgive them. But I know the freedom forgiveness brings. Chains drop away from both the offender and the offended, and life can move forward as God meant for it to.

As we saw in yesterday’s devotional, God is pleading with us to be reconciled to Him. In much the same way, God wants us to reconcile with one another.

This is why He has given us the “ministry of reconciliation.” This is why He has “committed to us the word of reconciliation.” This means the same for us as it does for Him—“not imputing the trespasses of others to them.”

Today we might call it “the Blame Game.” It’s the excuses we make for not loving or forgiving others.

“They did such-and-such to me.”

“No one can be expected to forgive such a thing.”

“They asked for it. What did they expect?!”

I talked to a believer once who said emphatically that she would NEVER forgive her sister for stealing away her fiancé when they were younger. The fact that she was undoubtedly being spared a relationship with someone who did not love her enough to stay with her was beside the point. It’s what the sister DID TO HER. She’d held on to her hurt for decades. She never came to a place of believing that God had a better plan for her, even though she later married a wonderful man whom she dearly loves. She is now a person who blames others for hurting her at every turn in her life. It is much easier to hold a grudge and ignore others than to be reconciled to them.

Having the “ministry of reconciliation,” I implored her to be reconciled to her sister. The “word of reconciliation” is that since God reconciled us to Himself by forgiving us, we must forgive others. Christ died for our sins; we are asked to do far less than die for those who injure us. We are asked to not impute (reckon, account) others’ trespasses to them.

Forgive. Let it go. Be free to love again.

“Father, it’s hard for us because we have to deny ourselves, but help us be reconciled to one another—even in the impossible things. Amen.”