Living ReconciledSample

Day Two:  Courageous Attitude 2—You No Longer Live for Yourself 

The second courageous attitude necessary for reconciliation is 100 percent based on two facts. First, Jesus died for all sins. Second, those who are alive in Him will be able to utilize and maintain this attitude to pursue reconciliation. 

No longer living for yourself can be a difficult task when you are in conflict. Your body—brain, flesh, heart, and soul—will want to do whatever it can to live for itself. Think about the last conflict you were in. Part of the conflict was that you were living for yourself. Now consider what intrigues you the most about Jesus. What captivates my curiosity the most is the fact that Jesus died for my sin. He did not live for Himself but to do the will of His Father. 

The selfless acts of the gospel are able to resound in every relationship we have. How does Jesus direct us to shed our selfish ways, and live with awareness of one another? By calling us to “feed [His] sheep” (John 21:17). What does that mean? When Jesus says, “Feed my sheep,” he isn’t saying, “Feed yourself.” He is saying, “No longer live for yourself. Feed others!”

What if you looked at conflict as an opportunity to feed others? We get to live for the One who died and rose again on our behalf. You are living for the glory of God. Some of you may be thinking, Uh, no, I’m not. You don’t know what I did. You don’t know the words that came out of my mouth. Listen, we have all been there. Repent! Christ’s forgiveness is always available. Commit to walking in newness of life.

If Peter, upon his denial of Jesus, had saturated himself in condemnation for the rest of his life, he would have limited what God had in store for him. Instead, he repented. Peter still had his issues and relational tension because he was a human like you and me. Yet at the end of his life, Peter wrote about “seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:3). 

God has given you everything you need to glorify Him in the midst of your relational tension. You are on a journey to discover more and more of the character of God while working through difficult relational conflict. Don’t lose sight of the fact that God is refining you and developing your character.

What practical steps can you take to honor the other person in your conflict? In your current conflict, what can you pray for?