Scripture

All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.(2 Corinthians 5:18-19, NIV)

Thoughts

We have been reconciled to God, even though our spiritual bank account was so negative that it had no bottom. But God’s spiritual bank account is so positive that it has no maximum. God took our spiritual bank account and reconciled it to his bank balance. How did he reconcile the two accounts? God reconciled us to himself through Jesus. Get hold of this: If your bank balance went negative and you wanted to make it positive again, you would make a deposit (put in a positive amount to your account) to balance out (reconcile) the negative amount. God did just that for us! He added up our negative account, deposited in Jesus, and our accounts now balance—they are reconciled.

What God did for us brings an enormous responsibility: he gave every believer the ministry of reconciliation.

What is the ministry of reconciliation? Does it mean evangelism—sharing the gospel? Could it mean healthy relationships—helping people to be reconciled? Well, it’s both. We are to bring reconciliation to others by sharing our faith in word and in deed so they may repent and turn to God. At the same time, we must be willing to reconcile the differences in our relationships so that people can hear our message. As Jesus said, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35, ESV).  

Paul goes on to clarify this when he wrote, “. . . that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ.” He is reconciling our spiritual bank account by not counting our sins against us. Aren’t you glad that God doesn’t count our trespasses against us? He is an amazingly gracious God. And he has entrusted his message of reconciliation to us.

Application

What is your message? What is your ministry? What are you counting—your blessings or others’ mistakes? God calls us to talk about and live out the wonderful message of reconciliation.

Prayer

Lord, I want to be a good communicator of the good news of reconciliation. I see that this has to include being reconciled with those I’m in conflict with, and I can’t do that without your help. . . . Continue praying.