Reconciliation and Forgiveness

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After causing hurt and damaging some relationships within my church community I am faced with a few courses of action. So far my attempts to reconcile and show I am repentant, let alone communicate with the people I have hurt have ultimately failed. In light of the status of our broken relationship and the apparent unwillingness to try to work through what is going on feel I have two good options:

1. Keep trying to communicate and arrange a time to meet one on one or privately in a group with the people I have alienated, trusting that I have missed something about the lack of communication. 

2. Give up attempts to communicate and simply pray and fast hoping that God will do something. 

 3. Trust God that he will do what he needs to do in my life and theirs and seek to grow closer to God without being distracted by my felt need to have all relationships in my life without conflict or problems. 

My other options don't seem good:

1. Publicly confront the people in question as they did to me and ask them why they seem to be ignoring my sincere attempts to reconcile. 

2. Leave the church community because I can no longer feel comfortable trying to serve in any active way when people have something against me and don't want to try and resolve it. 

In the process of trying to do what is right the right gets harder. I still must firmly resolve to focus on God's evaluation of the situation and not let other people's choice to ignore or look down on me define how I think about the situation. The final point is that I am not in control of the virtue of others. God will hold me responsible for my sins and show me what they are and if the others in this situation have sins against me  or God and are seeking God they will have the same conviction. 

2 Corinthians 2:5-11
Forgive the Sinner
Now if anyone has caused pain, he has caused it not to me, but in some measure—not to put it too severely—to all of you. For such a one, this punishment by the majority is enough, so you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him. For this is why I wrote, that I might test you and know whether you are obedient in everything. Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive. Indeed, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ, so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs.

Discord and division are the designs of Satan, but love and harmony under truth is God's plan. Trust and a total restoration are not what I am expecting, but my hope is that God will bring at least a modicum of forgiveness and peace. 


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