Previous Challenge Entry (Level 3 - Advanced)
Topic: Write an INSPIRATIONAL article (11/27/14)
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TITLE: Precious, Harmonious Relationships | Previous Challenge Entry
By Anne Warden
12/03/14 -
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Last month, my half-brother, “Al”, died. He was eighteen years old when I was born and, though we loved each other, due to our differing ages, we were never very close.
I am saddened to report that my brother and I had a falling out a few years ago. I confronted Al about something he did. He got stubborn and I returned the stubbornness – a trait we both learned from our mother. We made a half-hearted attempt to patch up the rift in our tenuous relationship but, as time passed, we said less and less to each other. At first I had been angry with him but, after anger became frustration and then frustration gave way to an unsettled resignation, I just didn’t know what more to say to try to break through the impasse. And I suspect he might have felt the same. We were like two elk that had locked horns. We were just stuck.
In the New Living Translation, Proverbs 18:19 says, “It’s harder to make amends with an offended friend [or family member] than to capture a fortified city. Arguments separate friends like a gate locked with iron bars.”
Today I regret that I didn’t try harder to resolve the offense. I saw Al as too stubborn to ever bend. Perhaps he saw me in the same light. But I always thought he was tough and, because we had broken contact, I never knew his heart was failing. I imagined we had time to repair our broken relationship. Someday!
The “someday” for Al and me to mend our wounds has now been lost.
At least in this lifetime, on this earth.
Thankfully, however, because Al and I are born-again believers in the sovereign God, there is coming a day when we will both rise in the Resurrection to meet Jesus in the air. At that instant, we will be converted from stubborn human beings into glorified saints. Our broken relationship will be a forgotten thing. Because of this blessed hope we Christians carry, my brother and I will be able to live in love and harmony forever.
King David brings us this wonderful picture of how all our relationships should be: “How wonderful it is, how pleasant, when brothers live together in harmony! For harmony is as precious as the fragrant anointing oil that was poured over Aaron’s head, that ran down his beard and onto the border of his robe. Harmony is as refreshing as the dew from Mount Hermon that falls on the mountains of Zion. And the Lord has pronounced His blessing, even life forevermore.” (Psalm 133, NLT)
Our Father hurts when we hurt, and He desires our lives to be blessed abundantly by the unity we have with those we love. But more than that, He needs for us to understand that what we offer to Him is tainted if we are not putting love into dynamic action with our ‘brothers’. Our human relationships matter that much to Him. We see the concept in Jesus’ own instruction: “So if you are standing before the altar in the Temple, offering a sacrifice to God, and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, leave your sacrifice there before the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person. Then come and offer your sacrifice to God.” (Matthew 5:23-24, NLT)
Oh yes, it can be difficult – even painful – to reconcile differences. But it is mandatory that we make EVERY effort to do so.
So I urge you: If you are tangled in stubbornness or pride, with festering wounds in your own relationships, don’t wait for God’s hereafter for them to be healed. Go heal them now. Because waiting any longer will keep you from that precious harmony you need in this life.
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(Taken from what I shared at Al’s memorial service)
In Proverbs 18:19 – Words in brackets are my own
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