4 minute read<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPerhaps the reason he was separated from you for a little while was that you might have him back forever\u2014 no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother. He is very dear to me but even dearer to you, both as a fellow man and as a brother in the Lord.\u201d (Philemon 1:15-16 NIV)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Separated for now so you will be together forever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Breaks in relationships are complicated. When a conflict happens that separates friends; we don\u2019t always know why. But in some cases, temporary separation is necessary to have them back forever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Paul\u2019s letter to Philemon<\/a> is his shortest. Philemon is a church leader, Onesimus, his slave who wronged him. Paul meets Onesimus in prison. After Onesimus becomes a Christ-follower, Paul sends him back to Philemon. The letter is paving the way for Philemon to forgive Onesimus and embrace him as part of the family. Culturally, Philemon had the right to exact penance from his former slave. What he did, we don\u2019t know. But what Paul did was exemplify what Jesus would do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Actions speak louder than words.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Paul\u2019s letter to Philemon is the only one he doesn\u2019t talk about Jesus\u2019s death and resurrection. He doesn\u2019t have to because Philemon already understands the meaning of what Jesus did. And because Paul is acting like Jesus, he expects Philemon to do the same. Paul has forgiven and embraced Onesimus. He met him when he was in prison, at one of the lowest points of both of their lives. Paul loves Onesimus right where he is. When we love people amid their bondage, we are showing them God\u2019s grace and mercy. Lives change when we love like Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Forgiving someone who hurt you isn\u2019t a one-time occurrence. Each time the offense comes to mind, we must forgive again.\u00a0 Philemon could only forgive Onesimus with the help of Jesus.\u00a0 We have the same need if we\u2019re to forgive those who hurt us.\u00a0 When we decide to let go of the offense, we take a step towards reconciliation.\u00a0 God\u2019s forgiveness of us reconciled us to Him.\u00a0 Our forgiveness of others shines Jesus light into a dark world, drawing people to Him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But the separation was necessary for Philemon and Onesimus to have eternal friendship. If Onesimus hadn\u2019t wronged Philemon and run away, he would never have met Paul. If he didn\u2019t meet Paul, he would never have met Jesus. For whatever reason, Onesimus had to go through what he went through to see Jesus\u2019s truth finally. We are the same as Onesimus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n God uses the circumstances in our lives to draw us to Him. Whatever heartache you\u2019re facing, God won\u2019t waste. He works all things to the good for those who believe and trust in Him (Romans 8:28 NIV). <\/p>\n\n\n\n Today\u2019s separation is tomorrow\u2019s reconciliation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Question of the Day:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Who do you need to forgive in your life to start the process of reconciliation?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Further Reading:<\/strong>Lamentations 1:1-2:22 NIV<\/a>, Philemon 1 NIV<\/a>, Psalm 101 NIV<\/a>, Proverbs 26:20 NIV<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 4 minute read \u201cPerhaps the reason he was separated from you for a little while was that you might have him back forever\u2014 no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother. He is very dear to me but even dearer to you, both as a fellow man and as… Continue reading WHY ARE SOME PEOPLE SEPARATED FROM YOU?<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2654","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","without-featured-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2654","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2654"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2654\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2658,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2654\/revisions\/2658"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2654"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2654"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2654"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}