Persevering in Broken Relationships

So, we said that it isn’t always practical to cut people out of our lives after relationships are broken. We live in a broken world and with broken people, so we also find ourselves in broken relationships with people. So, how do we go forward with these broken relationships?

Forgiveness above all

Forgiveness is the only way to break the chains that bind us to the hurt that the person has inflicted. With that loosing of chains, then we will heal and be more prepared to handle broken relationships.

Prayer next

‘Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you’ Matthew 5:44. Prayers are going to be our BFF when dealing with broken relationships. Praying for the other person, for God to bless them and convict them, to change their heart; prayers for that person to succeed. These are not easy prayers, they are necessary. They are part of the commands that the Bible has given us for our own good. Prayers for our enemies will also change ourselves.

Prayers asking for patience and peace in dealing with former offenders will also be our companion. The old hurts will easily be brought back to the surface and we will likely do those silent cries to God ‘help me, Lord!’

Wear the Armor of God

Interacting with those who have hurt us and are unwilling to change is hard. We need the armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-18): we need to stand firm in truth, righteousness, and the gospel. We need to stand firm in our faith in God, in our salvation and work with and in the Spirit of God. We need to know the truth of our position as a child of God and what that means for us. We need to know that we have been made righteous and we are forgiven for our part in the relationship that is broken. We need to know the gospel and be rooted in the Word of God to withstand all attacks in the coming interactions of brokenness. We need constancy in our faith and unwavering belief in our salvation. The enemy (the offender and Satan’s army) will try in every way to attack in interactions we are forced to continue on with instead of cutting off. The holy Spirit must be our companion to guide us and lift us up from these difficult interactions. The Spirit is our only offensive weapon in the armor, so let the Spirit work in the person and the relationship.

Love your enemies

I know you didn’t miss that part of the verse up there, about love. Yes, we do have to love our enemies as well. We have to be the example of God’s love in these broken relationships. ‘Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up’ (Galatians 6:9). It will be a wearying thing to continue contact with those whom we are better off without. But God will us the strength to do so and walks with us in this quest to never weary in doing good to our enemies. This quest to love our enemies.

We are More than Conquerors

In Paul’s letter to the Romans, chapter 8 speaks first of our suffering and then our victory in Christ. When we walk in these broken relationships in a broken world, these can be the words that lend us hope. First, (Romans 8:26a) the Spirit of God, the all-powerful creator of the universe, helps us in our weakness. And second, ‘in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us’ (Romans 8:37). With God in us and for us, we can persevere in these difficult, challenging, sometimes heartbreaking relations. Through forgiveness, prayer, and girding ourselves with the armor of God we will be much better equipped to love our enemies and persevere in our broken relationships.

NEXT MONTH: Anxiety Robs our Peace - taking back the ground that the enemy has stolen.