reconciliaton roadmap
The Reconciliation Roadmap is a tool from my upcoming devotional, Healing through Belonging. Reconciliation is a characteristic that we can embody through the Holy Spirit. Believers are called to be “Ministers of Reconciliation” (2 Corin. 5:18-19). We are able to reconcile relationships because we have been reconciled back to God. Jesus died on the cross for our sins, so we no longer separated from Him. Jesus was the ultimate minister of reconciliation. Through the Holy Spirit, we are able to forgive others, and we are able to renew our relationships with people. We will not be able to reconcile every relationship. However, we can become ministers of reconciliation. Reconciliation begins with us and our hearts and minds. The exercise below will help you identify how you can become someone who reconciles relationships. We must first recognize our personal set backs in relation to relationships.
Hurt to Healed
Healing can look like a number of things. I believe that we are always being invited into a deeper level of healing with the Holy Spirit. We are able to ask the Holy Spirit what lies we have been holding onto. We can expose the lies, and we can reject the lies. God does not let us go when He is handling the lies that we have believed. I imagine the lies that I have believed about myself are in a basket. I am able to hand over the basket to God, and He throws the lies away. God holds onto us as He is throwing out the enemies lies.
abandoned to adopted
Losing your identity could look like a number of things. Maybe you feel like you have to say, “yes” to every request driven by other people’s ambitions. Maybe you think that you will never overcome your anxious thoughts. Maybe you feel unworthy because of a past mistake that has brought on continued consequences. A lost identity can make us disconnected from the body that we are occupying. However, your identity has never been lost because your identity was not your responsibility to establish. Rather, your identity is one that has been established by the Identity Giver. Your identity is not lost because the Identity Giver has found you (Matthew 18:22).
Broken to Blessed
Our purpose on earth is to receive God’s grace, peace and love because Jesus has declared us as Holy. We are able to stand confidently before God because of Jesus paying the price for our sins. Jesus died for our sins so that we could live with Jesus on earth and in Heaven. Since Jesus died for our sins, the grace of God has covered our wrongdoings. Our worst moments can stem from the consequences of our sins or someone’s sin that hurt us. However, our worst moments have no worth compared to Jesus’ grace that he has lavished on you. Your purpose did not begin because of your “good deeds.” Nor can you lose your purpose because of your sin. The Holy Spirit is with you, and He is reminding you that your security is found in Jesus. “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory” (Eph. 1:13-14).