Confession of offense and forgiveness are two sides of the same coin in relationship resolution. Both must be present for the relationship to be restored.
We do not forgive for our own feelings; we do not become bitter when we do not forgive the unrepentant. We bless those who curse us, treat them with the respect they didn't give us when in company, but cannot have a relationship with them.
God's way of forgiveness is repentance, forgiveness, and then restoration of the relationship, the same way He expects us to forgive.
Luke 17:3-4 "3 Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, 4 and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”
Matthew 18:17 "
If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector."
People who are rebellious and divisive must be avoided. Those who are rude, offensive and destructive will continually cause trouble between friends.
Romans 16:17-18 "17 Now I urge you, brothers and sisters, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them. 18 For such people are slaves, not of our Lord Christ but of their own appetites; and by their smooth and flattering speech they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting."
This means we are to not associate with those who will not confess their sin and even justify it.
Because the church as a whole is not obeying God in this command to forgive God's way, the entire society has neglected accountability, leaving people as spiritual and emotional infants.
These people are not only not sorry for their offenses, but they expect to be reinstated in broken relationships while nothing has changed.
People are not growing wiser, stronger in the Lord, nor are they reconciling. The relationship remains broken, the people remain broken, and their witness of Christ is broken.
Those who follow God's Word and expect others to do the same will be excluded and gossiped about, even when their aim is to help mend and restore relationships.
Pray for those in rebellion at a distance, and be sure to pray for your own heart as you do, that you not become bitter, but also that we not concentrate on it continually, ruining the other parts of our life that we must attend to.
May we not abandon God's way just to have people around us, let's promote obedience to God, and those who love Him will be our friends.
Sunday, August 30, 2026
If We Love People Tell Them The Truth
God never says to hope someone will become what they should and act on that basis.
We deal with people the way they are, not what we hope they might become.
When we pretend someone might become something they are not now, we thwart the discipline and correction that God might have for them to improve and repent.
Someone who accepts rebellious people to avoid conflict is lazy. When we are lazy and do not obey God out of fear of being rejected, we will never grow, and neither will anyone who spends time with us.
The person who gets away with sin without accountability falls deeper and deeper into their rebellious heart, eventually will become hardened.
Ephesians 4:18 "They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart."
Proverbs 25:18-20 "18 Like a club or sword or sharp arrow is a man who bears false witness against his neighbor. 19 Like a broken tooth or a foot out of joint is confidence in a faithless man in time of trouble. 20 Like one who removes a garment on a cold day or vinegar poured on a wound is one who sings songs to a heavy heart."
Jeremiah 17:5 "This is what the LORD says: “Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind, who makes mere flesh his strength and turns his heart from the LORD."
Isaiah 30:1-3 "Woe to the rebellious children, saith the LORD, that take counsel, but not of me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin:"
There is only one solution to avoid a hardened heart.
Matthew 13:14-15 "Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says: “‘You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive.” For this people's heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.’"
Those who walk in rebellion against the Bible must repent to be cleansed by God.
We deal with people the way they are, not what we hope they might become.
When we pretend someone might become something they are not now, we thwart the discipline and correction that God might have for them to improve and repent.
Someone who accepts rebellious people to avoid conflict is lazy. When we are lazy and do not obey God out of fear of being rejected, we will never grow, and neither will anyone who spends time with us.
The person who gets away with sin without accountability falls deeper and deeper into their rebellious heart, eventually will become hardened.
Ephesians 4:18 "They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart."
Proverbs 25:18-20 "18 Like a club or sword or sharp arrow is a man who bears false witness against his neighbor. 19 Like a broken tooth or a foot out of joint is confidence in a faithless man in time of trouble. 20 Like one who removes a garment on a cold day or vinegar poured on a wound is one who sings songs to a heavy heart."
Jeremiah 17:5 "This is what the LORD says: “Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind, who makes mere flesh his strength and turns his heart from the LORD."
Isaiah 30:1-3 "Woe to the rebellious children, saith the LORD, that take counsel, but not of me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin:"
There is only one solution to avoid a hardened heart.
Matthew 13:14-15 "Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says: “‘You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive.” For this people's heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.’"
Those who walk in rebellion against the Bible must repent to be cleansed by God.
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