By Andrew Williams
“If another believer sins against you, go privately and point out the offense. If the other person listens and confesses it, you have won that person back.
Matthew 18:15 NLT
Good morning fellow disciples.
Confess: to unburden one’s sins or the state of one’s conscience to God or to a priest; to give evidence of.
Is your relationship with another believer strained, problematic, failing, contentious, or in a state of disrepair?
Are you burdened down by the strained relationship between you and your fellow believer? Is your relationship failing because your fellow believer has sinned against you?
Is your relationship failing because you believe that he or she has sinned against you, even when they haven’t?
Have you gone to your fellow believer and pointed out the offense or the perceived offense to them?
Speak to the person in a loving manner and let them know what their offense was. As the verse states, if the person listens and confesses his sin then your relationship will be restored!
Prayer: Father God, how many times have we prayed to You to restore a relationship with a believer who has sinned against us? Your Word here is very clear. We need to go to them and speak to them about the offenses that were committed. When we do that and they respond with confession our relationship with each other will be restored.
Father God, today, help us to recognize who we have sinned against and who have sinned against us. Help us to go to one another and speak to each other about our offenses and confess our sins one to another and thus restore our relationship. Amen.
What if you have spoken to your brother about a perceived offense and forgiven him for speaking badly about you over this perceived offense, but he chooses not to forgive you?