18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them.
Reconciliation is an important part of our ministry to others. We can see from these verses that part of reconciliation is not counting sins against them. We must be willing to let go of other’s sins, those committed against us. Those are the only ones we can let go of. God let go of the sins committed against Him. He made the way for us to be in right relationship with him. He reconciled us to Himself. He did all the work. Jesus’ whole job was to restore what was lost in the Fall. And that is what He did. I don’t know if you have ever had a falling out with a close relative. It can be one of the most devastating things in the world. The break in relationship can affect so many other areas of life. If that person was your support network, your shoulder of support, then it can be pretty tough when that relationship is strained. And then when the relationship is restored, life is good. Reconciliation is the process of restoring that relationship. It is a balancing of the accounts, a making right what was wrong. Christ reconciled us with God. He did what was necessary to bring the two parties together. He paid the price for our sins, the one thing that stood in the way of a restored relationship. God counted our sins against Christ, even though He did not commit any sins. And because Christ did this for us, we ought to be doing this as part of our life here on earth with others. We ought to be about finding ways to bring people together, to make things right between them. Maybe we need to start with our own relationships. Is there someone with whom you have had a falling out? Is it possible to make it right, to be reconciled?
The Arnold Journey 