First of all, what is reconciliation? One definition is to renew friendship with self — then with others. Amen!
Here’s a small story about reconciliation.
Inside St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin, Ireland, there’s a door that tells a five-century-old tale.
In 1492, two families — the Butlers and the FitzGeralds — began fighting over a high-level position inside the region.
The fight escalated, and the Butlers took refuge in the cathedral.
When the FitzGeralds came to ask for a truce, the Butlers were afraid to open the door. So the FitzGeralds cut a hole in it, and their leader offered his hand in peace.
The two families then reconciled, and adversaries became friends.
God has a door of reconciliation that the Apostle Paul wrote passionately about in his letter to the church in Corinth: At His initiative and because of His infinite love, God exchanged the broken relationship with humans for a restored relationship through Christ’s death on the cross.
We were far away from God, but in His mercy He didn’t leave us there. He offers us restoration with Himself, not counting people’s sins against them.
Justice was fulfilled when God made Jesus, who had no sin, to be sin for us. So that in Him, we can be at peace with God.
It is truly a blessing when we can give cheerfully to those in need and receive cheerfully from those who just may have more than they need. We must use hospitality to destroy hostility when we receive or give a donation. Amen!
