The other day I was reminded once again how important it is to keep short accounts with others. I say this as for some reason it seems that it has become a common occurrence in many of our lives to ignore the accounts we build with each other.
I have always believed that the way our lives are expressed outside has a lot to do with what we really believe within us. Take for example the way most of us practice business when it comes to paying others. It is very rare nowadays for people to pay for goods the minute they receive them. This is only expected to be done by the end users and even they are often offered the facility to take a long time to pay.
This kind of approach means that debts build up and life becomes very difficult as we are always trying to catch up. The quality of our lives suffer but ultimately it is the richness of our relationships with others that receive the biggest blows. Our time is consumed trying to manage the debt and our focus is more than not always fixed in creating a liberating future to pay for the accounts we have built up in the past.
This same picture applies to our hearts and the way we deal with one another. Inevitably in this life of ours we ware going to be offended and hurt by others. Being wounded and hurt is not a sin nor is it feeling it and feeling the feelings that come with it. Where things begin to get murky and dark is when we do nothing about it. You see often we believe that avoidance is better than confronting. Many of us have been sold the lie that avoidance will somehow make it all go away, but what we don’t realise when we think this way is that avoidance is the best fertilizer to empower these offenses that will silently destroy our emotions and general well being.
We all know that huge debts often end in bankruptcy with people loosing everything they have. When we ignore the debts we have with others and others have with us we too run the risk of running into emotional and spiritual bankruptcy. There is a very good reason why Yeshua said that if we had something outstanding with someone else it was wise to go and sort that out before we did anything else. Through these words it is clear that it is Gods desire to set both parties free yet as we all know it takes two to reconcile a situation. This is why it is wise for us to make sure that we are the ones that take the first step towards it even if the other party chooses to reject our approach.
Therefore let us consider today to choose not to allow our emotional and spiritual accounts with one another to reach a place where they will break all concerned. Instead let us address them while they are small and still have a chance to be reconciled. It doesn’t matter if we are owed or we owe. What matters is that one of us takes the first step towards forgiveness as this will create the space where not only the debt will have a chance to be cancelled but it will also advert much unnecessary suffering and grief. So go ahead and make that phone call, write that email, or take that short drive down the road. As doing so will cover a multitude of sins for the parties that take advantage of the opportunity provided not just to them but also for the future generations that are still to come.
Remember – Weak people love to be right. Strong ones love to reconcile.
-pablo-
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