2 Corinthians 5:18-19
Walk into our house on any day and you’ll be greeted by trains, blocks, and tracks. The train table, their rightful home, tends to be the last place you’ll find any trains. A long line of trains sits perched on top of our piano. Blocks surround them, making bridges and roads. The photos and books on our shelves have been pushed back to make room for yet another line of trains. They’re in our bedroom, on the bathroom sink, in the kitchen cupboards. Trains everywhere.
It never fails that whatever train my younger son is playing with at any given moment is precisely the train my daughter wants. Numerous times throughout the day, screams erupt as the trains are taken from one another and someone’s feelings are hurt. It takes a lot of patience to talk with my children about sharing and what it means to say you’re sorry when you push or hit another person.
If I can model and teach my children what it means to reconcile at home, they’ll be ready to put reconciliation in action as they grow older and find themselves in trickier situations. We keep practicing forgiveness over and over again. We keep remembering that Christ is in each of us and we give thanks for the ways Christ forgives us. Knowing Christ’s power to reconcile himself to us refreshes my spirit as I attempt to bring about reconciliation among my children and as I model reconciliation for them.
Consider
Reflect on a time when you offered someone forgiveness.
Pray
Gracious God, thank you for Christ’s gift of reconciliation and for the ministry of hope and healing that you call me to share with others. Amen.