“If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.” — Romans 12:18
When Things Are Broken Between You and Someone
A fractured relationship is a particular kind of heavy. A family that doesn’t speak. A friendship that ended badly. A wound from years ago you still carry. The argument that keeps replaying. Conflict and the slow grind of unforgiveness wear a person down in a way few other things do — and most people carry it quietly, unsure how to find the way back. If that is you, there is hope, and there is help.
Steps Toward Peace
- Own your part honestly, even if it’s only a small part. It almost always disarms the other person.
- Go to the person directly and privately, not to everyone else about them (Matthew 18:15).
- Aim to understand before you aim to win. Most conflicts are misunderstandings wearing armor.
- Forgive — not because they earned it, but because the bitterness is poisoning you, not them.
- Make peace where you can, and entrust the rest to God where you can’t.
The Heart of It Is Forgiveness
Real reconciliation always runs through forgiveness — and that is hard, because the hurt is real. Here is what makes it possible: we forgive because we have first been forgiven so much more. “Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you” (Ephesians 4:32). The whole gospel is a story of reconciliation — God making peace with rebels at the cost of His own Son: “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself” (2 Corinthians 5:19).
When you understand how much you have been forgiven, forgiving someone else stops feeling impossible. That is the power that heals families. If you’ve never understood that forgiveness for yourself, read the gospel here.
We’d Be Glad to Help You Find the Way Back
At Westview Baptist Church, Pastor Eli offers biblical counsel for broken relationships, anchored in the Word of God. Whether the wound is in your marriage, your family, or a friendship, you don’t have to sort it out alone. If it’s your marriage specifically, we have help for that too. Send a prayer request, plan a visit, or call us at (586) 210-0445. There is a way back to peace.