How we receive each other

Friends,

Maybe it was years ago.
Maybe it was yesterday.

Someone wronged you. They owed you something ... perhaps it was merely an apology ... and did not fulfill it. They deprived you of something meaningful ... perhaps they deprived of you of their kindness, love and affection.

No matter how it happened, you were wounded by their actions.

Philemon 1:15-16
For perhaps he departed for a while for this purpose, that you might receive him forever, no longer as a slave but more than a slave - a beloved brother, especially to me but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord. [NKJV]

The question now is this:
Can you receive them as a brother? Can you acknowledge that you've been hurt without holding a grudge? Can you accept that Christ has given them grace sufficient to repent?

This can be one of the hardest things we are called to do as Christians. But it is no more than what Jesus did for us ... and for Him, it cost Him His life.

Forgive, brothers and sisters, as we have been forgiven.

Be encouraged, Jose