From Alien to Beloved Child

Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation. Colossians 1:21-22

God is the one who worked out a plan that I could be reconciled to him, from being His enemy to His beloved child. In this life, it's tempting to wait for our enemies or people who have wronged us to figure things and out, come clean, and reconcile. But if we follow God’s example, we should be the ones eager to reconcile, to take initiative, showing mercy and grace towards others. 

This can be so difficult in some cases, because taking initiative is risky. It might mean getting hurt again.... Reconciliation, unfortunately, is not guaranteed in this life among our human relationships.... but again, we live in a sinfilled world and nothing is as it should be. Taking initiative, however, also means laying down a burden and hoping for a new start - giving it another chance, rebuilding.

Nonetheless, regardless of how our human relationships work out, God is working the way He promises to work, and we can be assured that the reconciliation He made through Christ is true and life-giving and gives us hope!