Reflection: When you are wronged by someone, how do you respond? How we want to respond, and how the gospel calls us to respond are often very different. It can be easy to hold onto the hurt caused by someone. But the gospel is about reconciliation. About the restoration of our relationship with God, through Jesus and his death on a cross in our place. This fundamental truth means that we are able to forgive others and seek reconciliation with those around us. This is exactly what Paul is urging Philemon to do — to be reconciled with Onesimus. He has been transformed by Jesus. Paul urges Philemon to let their restoration to one another be a lived example for the church of the power of the gospel.
How can the restorative power of the gospel be lived out in your life today?
Prayer:Â Father, thank you for saving me by your grace. I pray that as I live in this grace and look to the cross, may I seek to be reconciled to those around me as I have been reconciled to you.