There are times when we become estranged from relatives, co-workers and friends.  This morning a friend was telling me she had become estranged from her dad, through no fault of her own, and the relationship was severed.  I asked what he had done to cause the rift, and she told me he had been verbally abusive to her for many years.  They no longer have contact with one another.

The apostle Paul tells us to try to live peaceably with all men, but with some it isn’t possible.

“If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.”   Romans 12:18

“Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm; the Lord reward him according to his works:  Of whom be thou ware also; for he hath greatly withstood our words.”
II Timothy 4:14

When we have trouble with relationships in our lives, if at all possible, handle them as God would have us do.  If we have wronged someone, go to them and ask forgiveness.

“Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican. Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?  Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.

Matthew 18:15-22.

“This was a trying time for the young hero.  He was guilty of no treason, high crime or misdemeanor.  But circumstances had placed him in the position where he was the object of the cruel envy of a proud king turned madman.  Hence it became an obsession with King Saul to kill him.

The strife, envy and hard feelings were not David’s fault.   It takes two to have peace, and he was only one.  In the Psalm he sang, the cruelty directed against him was not for any transgression or sin on his part.  Not “my fault,” he stated.  In this matter he was absolutely innocent.  He said in another Psalm:

“For without cause have they hid for me their net in a pit, which without cause they have digged for my soul.”    Psalm 35:7

However, a common error is to assume that where there is estrangement and strife, both are at fault; and a grosser assumption is that perhaps both are equally at fault.  The former is not always true, and the latter seldom is.

Do everything you can to stay on friendly terms with everybody – “if it be possible.”  (Romans 12:18) – but sometimes with some people it is not possible.”
~ Leroy Brownlow

Eileen Light