The road to reconciliation

Sometimes, relationships get broken and there seems to be no road to reconciliation.

Solomon recognized this, saying,

An offended brother is harder to reach
than a fortified city,
and quarrels are like the bars of a fortress. (Proverbs 18:19)

If there is ever to be reconciliation, there’s one thing we need to learn: to listen to the other person.

Solomon said,

The one who gives an answer before he listens—
this is foolishness and disgrace for him. (13)

How often, when the other person is talking, do we use that time, not to listen, but to simply think about what we are going to say next?

I know I’ve been guilty of that.

This is not to say that we have to agree with everything the other person says. They may be the one in the wrong. But if we’re not even willing to listen to the other person, their walls will only get higher.

And the truth is, there are times when we are the one in the wrong.

That’s why Solomon said,

The first to state his case seems right
until another comes and cross-examines him. (17)

We may be fully convinced we are in the right. But if we take the time to actually listen to the other person, we just might find out we are the one in the wrong.

Obviously, reconciliation needs to be a two-way thing. But we can’t control how the other person responds.

What we can control is our own actions. And if we are willing to humbly listen to the other person, it just may cause them to do the same, opening the door to reconciliation.

Lord, give me a humble heart. Even when I think I’m right, give me the humility to truly listen. In Jesus’ name, amen.