29 Quotes About One-blood

Many struggle to forgive because there's the notion that to forgive is to suggest that the wrong was not committed. But forgiveness requires an offense to have been committed. Someone was hurt. En evil deed was done.

And I think that when the Lord puts fire in your belly and a call on your life, quitting isn't an option. But if we're able to stand and to remain committed, it's because of His grace. We can't claim credit for it. He does it in us and through us by the power of the Holy Spirit. Our part is to just do what He tells us to do.

Without them the chain would be broken and progress, as slow as it has been, would have stopped. The same is true with you. You are a link in the chain of progress, and our children and their children are depending on each of us to remain strong, to do our part until the work is finally done. And one day it will be done. Of that I am confident.

I don't think it makes sense to go into a battle and not know who you're fighting against. And if you're in a battle and don't even know there's a battle going on, you're going to be wiped out. This thing of reconciliation is one of the devil's main battlegrounds. We need to know that in order to be ready to fight well.

In this battle for biblical reconciliation, we don't go against the Enemy with swords, spears, and javelins. We don't fight with small stones and slingshots. We pray. We pray. We pray because this battle is the Lord's. And by praying we call down the whole army of God to defeat the enemies of reconciliation. Like David, we believe that God's power is more than enough to bring victory.

And I'm convinced that prayer and work go together. We've got to work and we've got to pray. We've got to do all that we can humanly do to move toward God's vision for unity in the body of Christ. And we've got to pray that He will reign over our efforts and will bring His supernatural power to bear against the forces that oppose us.

After He changes our hearts we need Him to move us beyond our fears and anxieties into loving relationship with one another. When we are fearful, our prayers are probably more powerful...because they're probably more honest. We need Him to help us lay aside prejudices and wrong-headed notions about one another and help us to learn from and with one another. We need His help to be honest and transparent with one another, to grieve our past and be ready to move forward together as one.

There's an African proverb that I think expresses beautifully just how important this face-to-face kind of friendship is: "When I saw you from afar, I thought you were a monster. When you got closer, I thought you were just an animal. When you got even closer, I saw that you were a human, but when we were face to face I realized that you were my brother.

But we have to overcome our fears. Fear will immobilize us or cause us to do things that are ungodly.