Leviticus 19:17 (NLT) Do not nurse hatred in your heart for any of your relatives. Confront people directly so you will not be held guilty for their sin.

As followers of Christ, we are called to love one another deeply and to live as brothers and sisters in Christ. God plucked us out of the world by saving us and washing us of all of our sins through the blood that Jesus shed on Calvary and placed us in a family: the family of God. We are now supposed to be and live as family and even more so than with blood relatives who do not acknowledge Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

We know that in a family, sometimes there is strife. One member of a family can either knowingly or unknowingly hurt or sin against another family member. When this happens, sometimes harsh words are exchanged or wrong actions are taken toward one another. At some point and in order to continue to live as a family, there has to be forgiveness and reconciliation between the family members. After this is done, the family can continue in love and harmony until the next incident happens, and then the process has to be repeated all over again. What is true of our immediate family unit is also especially true for the family of God.

But just like in your immediate family, sometimes members of a local church have a problem with one another or one person hurts or "sins" against another person. What usually happens nowadays is that this will cause one or both of the people involved to leave the church or in essence, to leave their family. While we usually don't think of forgetting about our earthly family when we have a problem with each other, many don't hesitate to do just that when confronted with a situation with some other brother or sister in Christ. That's because many Christians do not live out their lives in the church as if they were family, as Jesus tells us that we are. In this day and age that we live in, Christians in many churches do not feel like family or don't even feel close to each other. A lot of church-going in this country is about people gathering in a building once a week to sing some songs, listen to some announcements and then listen to a sermon. Then everyone goes home to their real lives and real family and friends. Nothing could be farther from what Jesus had in mind when He came to pay the penalty for our sins so that we could live life to full measure with His family.

If we want to live right and please God, then it very well involves confronting any church family member when we feel that they did something to wrong us. If they truly did do something wrong to you and it was not just your thin-skin at work, then you can spare them from sin by being honest and confronting them about it. This is so important that the verse above tells us that we will be held guilty for their sin if we don't confront them. This will also keep you from sinning by harboring bitterness and hatred in your heart against them because of what they did. God's standard is high and He holds both parties accountable to make it right. It's for unity's sake that God commands this so that the church (the "house") will not be divided, for a house divided against itself cannot stand (Matthew 12:25).

The next time that someone in the family of God hurts you or sins against you, don't be held guilty. Don't keep it in and don't leave the church because of it. Face the issue by letting the person know that they hurt you or sinned against you. You will be helping them to repent of their sin and helping yourself to be free of hatred, while honoring the Word and pleasing your heavenly Father.

Pastor Joey Vazquez