Making Friends

“Don’t make your adversary your enemy, make your adversaries your friends.” ~Ret Gen Colin Powell~

Matthew 18:15-17

15 “If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. 16 But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ 17 If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.

Matt 5:21-25 highlight vss23-25
....23 “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift. 25 “Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still together on the way, or your adversary may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison.

My Thoughts

As I heard General Powell say this in an interview this morning God said to me,  "That’s the Holy Spirit speaking to you."

I don’t have many enemies, although there are some. I share the Gospel and so, believe it or not, doing so brings them out of the woodwork. But when I think back, I recall that not all were always enemies, at one point most were adversaries who were ignored or handled with scorn and because of this they became enemies.

I would never compromise my convictions, to me the Word of God is still Truth and there is no substitute for the Truth. But because I do share the Gospel I do have many adversaries. Sometimes I meet them on the street, at the store, at work or even at times they seek me out to give their view on that "Jesus rising from the dead" thing....lol. Some are open to God's Word but yet others take a hard stance and may even be offended by the Gospel. It is with them that God is cautioning wisdom, not compromise, but wisdom in dealing with them.

Its time to begin to cultivate relationship with not only those who agree with and like us, but also to those who disagree and think we're all nuts....ha-ha. What glory it would bring to the Father if we can win over those who at first meeting oppose us. In Matt 5:25 the word "adversary" is not translated as enemy, it means opponent. Here are some synonyms of opponent, adversary, antagonist, challenger, competitor, disputant, opposer....there are others and enemy is even one of them. But I believe that for the Christian we have but one enemy, Satan and his hoard of demonic spirits.

Because relationship is most important thing to God, (Matt 22:34-40) it must be the most important thing to us as well.  We may have failed in the past with our relationships but that doesn’t mean that God cannot restore what we have destroyed or that we cannot build on what God presents to us, or in this matter whom God brings before us.

The trick is to use the Truth in the Word of God to win them over and not our own learned independent thought processes.....if we can do that, then God tells us we have won a friend.

Be Blessed in Your Friendships,

Cy L. Nunez