Practical Biblical Steps to Restore Relationships
By Linda A. Ratcliff, Th.D.
Matthew 5:23-24
Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother
hath ought against thee; Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way;
first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.It is inevitable that, in this life, someone is going to offend you or "do you wrong." At the same time, in today’s world the problem of social isolation has gained significant prominence. With the advancement of technology, our capacity to engage with others has diminished. Young people are missing the extensive social circles that were typical two decades ago. Our verbal communication has transformed, condensing interactions into brief texts, including even the simplest symbols like smiley faces or a thumbs down.
With this kind of a world, both the offended and the offending persons are likely to just disengage with one another, send snarky texts to each other, or go on Facebook and make slanderous comments about a situation.
How does the Bible tell us to handle a break in a relationship? Should the two parties meet face-to-face to iron things out? This course studies the difficult situation from a Biblical point of view and examines the right and wrong ways to approach conflict resolution and restore relationships.
| CHAPTER 1: | Don't Get in a Big Hurry |
| CHAPTER 2: | Talk It Over with the Lord |
| CHAPTER 3: | You Go First |
| CHAPTER 4: | Acknowledge Their Hurt |
| CHAPTER 5: | Express Your Own Hurt |
| CHAPTER 6: | Inside Voices, Please! |
| CHAPTER 7: | Tackle the Issue, Not the Person |
| CHAPTER 8: | Ask/Grant Forgiveness |
| CHAPTER 9: | Repair, Repay, Restore |
| CHAPTER 10: | Establish Boundaries to Rebuild Trust |
| CHAPTER 11: | What to Do with a Prodigal Child |
| CHAPTER 12: | Paul's Message of Reconciliation |
| CHAPTER 13: | Making Peace with a Difficult Person |
| CHAPTER 14: | The Restoration of Peter |
Note: If you accidentally submit the lesson before you are ready, just open this page again and begin with the question where you left off. If you wish to quit and continue later, hit the submit button and when you have time, pick up with the question where you left off. We will combine the answer sheets together into one response for you.