Get over it

Staying committed to God and our walk with Jesus means we are all going to have to get over it. Over what? Over whatever it takes. Being a part of a small community of believers does not exclude us the struggles of everyday life. Being people we are prone to anger envy strive and all sorts of problems. I know it may seem easier if every time we come across a potential conflict with another believer to just give in and go somewhere else. But what happens when we come across a similar situation, will we give in again leave for another church?

I am not one for all the drama believe me, but what if instead of letting our conflicts within the church boil over we took the teachings of Jesus seriously. What if we took these conflicts and used them to advance our understanding?  I say these things because we are a family. Despite who you are, what you’ve done, where ever you are from if you are a believer in Jesus Christ you are part of the family. As a small community of people who claim Jesus as the Son of God we cannot afford in fighting to drive wedges between us. We are commanded to love one another. I know during potential conflicts and in fighting we are most guilty of not loving each other, but we are also held to forgive one another as well. Though the task of forgiving seems impossible at times when is it ever easy peasy ?

When I said advancing our understanding let’s see this through. Could we draw up a list of things said and done and use it against the person or persons in question? Yes we could, she said, he did so on and so on. But what does this say about us? Who among us can say we’ve acted in complete righteousness?  Have you ever lost your temper acted out of impulse, said something you shouldn’t have? What did God do for you? Does He ultimately hold it against you? Did He forgive you? Better question to ask is what is going to happen if we can’t settle our differences quickly? What will our forgiveness from God look like if we insist on holding the sins of others against them?

Being able to forgive others their transgressions isn’t easy at all. Asking to be forgiven isn’t any easier either. We are a family with Jesus sitting at the head. If we let our conflicts get the best of us and move on without the real resolution we are unknowingly cutting ourselves out of the family, because we weren’t commanded to shuffle ourselves around till we get along. We are commanded to love and forgive one another as God as loved and forgiven us. Do we really think moving to another part of the table without being able to forgive is really going to get ourselves back with God’s good graces? Please think about what happens next. Settle your differences quickly; remember what happened to the servant who did not forgive the debt of another.  Can any of us afford our own debts?