“Come to good terms with your accuser quickly, while you are with him on the way to court, so that your accuser will not hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and you will not be thrown into prison” (Matthew 5:25; all Scripture quotations are from the New American Standard Bible).

“He started it!” “But she said….” “It’s his fault.” “She hurt my feelings!”

On one hand, we learned to say things like this when we were about five years old. The problem is that we continue to talk, think, and act like this 20, 50, 70, or more years later.

We assume that if we can blame another person for starting a conflict, we do not have to accept responsibility. Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 5:21-27 says otherwise. “Therefore, if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there you remember that your brother has something against you … first be reconciled to your brother” (Matthew 5:23-24). He does not address who started the conflict or if your brother’s resentments are justifiable. He merely calls on us to take the initiative to seek reconciliation.

We may not be able to achieve peace with someone who has something against us. We are only responsible for the effort. However, we cannot afford to wait for the other person to apologize. We need to forgive, make amends, and seek reconciliation whenever necessary and possible.

Do you have a conflict that needs to be reconciled? What can you do to restore peace?

Copyright © 2023 Michael E. Lynch. All rights reserved.