WORK TO REBUILD!! EVEN WITHOUT RESOLUTION!!
The last step in rebuilding and restoring relationship deals with reconciliation. That does not mean you have reached or will ever reach a resolution to your difference. Remember, what has happen cannot be undone, only reconciled. You will never find two people that agree on everything. That is why it is important to pursue reconciliation and not to focus on resolution. We can re-establish a relationship even when we are unable to resolve our differences. Christians often have legitimate, honest disagreements and differing opinions, but we can disagree without being disagreeable. (1 Peter 3:11 They must turn from evil and do good; they must seek peace and pursue it.) Every jeweler looks at the same diamond differently, just like we all see situations and events differently. God expects unity, not uniformity, and we can walk side by side without seeing every issue the same. We can continue to look for a solution while we strive for reconcilation. We simply agree to bury the hatchet and not attack one another any longer. The steps we have discussed in rebuilding relationships are simple, but they are not easy. Peter tells us in the scripture today, that we have to pursue peace. In the culture we live in today peace does not pursue us, we must pursue peace. When you work for peace, you are doing what God does. That’s why God calls peacemakers his children. Pastor Don