Be Reconciled

God lives and works today, and he longs to live and work in our hearts, so that we may be reconciled with him and each other. Today's meditation by Basilia Schlenk shares what happened when somebody dared to take the first step of reconciliation and let go of grudges. Be reconciled.

Don't be estranged from anyone. Go to the person who bears a grudge against you, or against whom you bear a grudge, and let love be victorious. Then the kingdom of heaven will begin.

As we all know, the bitter end of one cucumber can make a whole salad bitter. Among the guests on our little land of Canaan was a woman whose whole life was bitter because she had one bitter place in her heart, bitterness toward her old sick mother. It seemed as though there was no solution to the problem.

However, during our conversation, the light of truth fell into her life, turned the guilt relationship around, caused tears of repentance to flow, and showed her the next step. When she returned home, she brought her mother a bouquet of flowers. What was spoken between the two of them we don't know, but this we do know.

The mother had made life difficult, not only for her daughter, but also for many others. She had many enemies in the village. But now that love had conquered the bitter relationship between mother and daughter, the other relationships could also be set aright.

Since the mother was bedridden and couldn't go to the others for reconciliation, she sent her daughter to the individual neighbors to beg their forgiveness. That began a wave of reconciliation which swept through the entire village. For just as the bitterness of one cucumber can permeate a salad, so a single candle can fill a whole room with light.

This testimony is a call to us to clean out the house of our heart, to let go of our grudges against others, and to let Jesus' love be victorious. For the love I lack, O Lord, give love to me. It was for love you called and called it me.

O fill my heart with the tender love so true, with which I, too, may show mercy just like you. Lord, love like this give me. Give me your love, your sympathy with all, filling each sorrow, Lord, O hear my call.

Dear Lord, you know me, I lack such tender care. Give me compassion, all grief and pain to share. Lord, love like this give me.

You've been listening to a program written by Basilia Schlink of the Little Land of Canaan. If this program has been a help to you, we'd be happy to send you a free leaflet by the same author. Please write to God Lives and Works Today, 9849 North 40th Street, Phoenix, Arizona, 85028-4099.

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