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Sharon. In February next year, Nel and I will be making 8 years in marriage. It’s been 8 years of great happiness and disagreements.

Nel. One of the things we have disagreed on most frequently is how we manage our money. Sometimes, the disagreements get so uncomfortable that we both go silent for a while. And by a while I mean a couple of days.

Sharon. During those moments, the environment is extremely tense and uncomfortable. When those moments come, I feel very unsettled and out of balance

Nel. My mind often begins to wonder how the silence will end. Who will be the first to break the tension and restore harmony in our home? Lucky for me, I married a courageous woman who always goes first. Sharon does a great job of working to bring reconciliation in our home in those moments.

Sharon. In Luke 15, Jesus tells the story of a young man who separated himself from his father and went off to live wastefully extravagantly. When a great famine came, the young man lost everything and began to struggle. Eventually, he came to his senses and chose to go back home, hoping his father would accept him as a servant.

The father’s response, however, was priceless. Seeing his son, a long way off, the father run to him, embraced him and threw a great party celebrating the return of his son. The father wasn’t bothered by his son’s past mistakes. The only thing that mattered to Him was that his son had come back home.

Nel. There is nothing quite as uncomfortable as sharing a room with someone with whom you have some unresolved conflict. And for a lot of us, praying is difficult because we feel uncomfortable talking to God. We are aware of all the mistakes we have made.

But the good news is that Jesus Christ already paid the price for our mistakes so that you and I could be reconciled with God.

Paul writes in Romans 5:6-8 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

He adds in verse 11, “Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”

Sharon. I don’t know what mistakes you’ve made that made you feel disqualified from ever being accepted by God. But we’d like to encourage you with this thought today. God made the ultimate sacrifice so that you would be reconciled with him. Nothing you can do will make him love you less. Come to him today and receive his forgiveness.

Lets pray together.