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Relationships are such a fragile thing. One minute everything seems to be going well, and then suddenly there is a disagreement that leads to an argument, and the next thing you know people are no longer speaking to each other and then choose to go separate ways. Many of you probably have experienced this sad situation.

It is very difficult to go through, but even more so when things like this happen in the church. It should break all our hearts when we see brothers and sisters choose to no longer fellowship, or even associate together.  Many times, we think that the issues we face relationally are something new in the church. That it is more of a modern church problem. If we think that then we haven’t read the scriptures very well. One example the Apostle Paul had to deal with is the church in Corinth. This church had a lot of issues. There was a lot of fighting and backbiting. It was very unbecoming of a church that represented Jesus.

Paul wrote a couple of letters to this church. In the second letter chapter 13 Paul sends out a very stern message about how they are to behave as followers of Christ, to the point we even read where he challenges them in verse 5 to evaluate if they are even saved. Through all this Paul still has one prayer for this church and we read this at the end of verse 9. “Your restoration is what we pray for.” This is specifically a call to be restored in fellowship with the Lord.

Later, though, we see that their inability to love one another as the Lord would have caused division in the body. Paul then gives another challenge in verse 11, “Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.” (ESV) We see the call for restoration to one another. To do that we must come to a place of agreement. I know that each one of us thinks that we are right and those we disagree with are wrong, but that is a pride issue.

You see there will always be disagreements on this side of heaven. The question is how do we deal with them? Unless it is a false teaching, there can always be a way to agree to disagree. The question we must answer is, is being right more important than the love and fellowship with our brothers and sisters? If so, reread verse 5.

 The gift of one another is sadly taken for granted. Let me remind us all that as we draw close to Thanksgiving, we should be thankful for the church and all the relationships the Lord allows us to be a part of.