our daily bread

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Dexu Xia

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Oct 15, 2018, 7:24:24 PM10/15/18

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Unfrozen

When Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face. Galatians 2:11

At a roundtable discussion about reconciliation, one participant wisely said, “Don’t freeze people in time.” He observed how we tend to remember mistakes people make and never grant them the opportunity to change.

There are so many moments in Peter’s life when God could have “frozen” him in time. But He never did. Peter—the impulsive disciple—“corrected” Jesus, earning a sharp rebuke from the Lord (Matthew 16:21–23). He famously denied Christ (John 18:15–27), only to be restored later (21:15–19). And he once contributed to racial divisions within the church.

The issue arose when Peter (also called Cephas) had separated himself from the Gentiles (Galatians 2:11–12). Only recently he associated freely with them. But some Jews arrived who insisted that circumcision was required for believers in Christ, so Peter began avoiding the uncircumcised Gentiles. This marked a dangerous return to the law of Moses. Paul called Peter’s behavior “hypocrisy” (v. 13). Because of Paul’s bold confrontation, the issue was resolved. Peter went on to serve God in the beautiful spirit of unity He intends for us.

No one needs to remain frozen in their worst moments. In God’s grace we can embrace each other, learn from each other, confront each other when it’s necessary, and grow together in His love.

Lord, draw us close to You today, so that we may also be closer to each other. Protect Your church’s unity. Give us understanding where there is distrust. Heal us where we are divided.

If we confront someone, we should have one goal in mind: restoration, not embarrassment. Chuck Swindoll

别这么认定

后来矶法到了安提阿，因他有可责之处，我就当面抵挡他。-加拉太书2章11节

在讨论如何与人和好时，有人说了一句很有智慧的话﹕“不要认定一个人永不会改变。”他观察到我们常会只记得别人的过错，却不给他们改过的机会。

在门徒彼得的生命中，有很多次耶稣都能这样认定他，但耶稣从未如此。彼得曾冲动地要“纠正”耶稣，受到耶稣严厉地斥责（马太福音16章21-23节）；众所皆知，彼得曾三次不认主（约翰福音18章15-27节），直到耶稣将他挽回（21章15-19节）。彼得还曾加深了教会内的种族隔阂。

事情的发生是因为彼得（又名矶法）疏远外邦人，不与他们往来（加拉太书2章11-12节）。那时彼得刚开始与外邦的信徒一同吃饭往来，然而，当一些犹太人到达时，彼得就立即避开未受割礼的外邦人，因为那些犹太人坚持归信基督的人必须受割礼。这让当时的信徒陷入重回摩西律法的危机，保罗严厉指责彼得的虚伪行为（13节）。后来，因着保罗敢于直斥其非，问题得以解决，彼得也秉持上帝要使众人合一的态度，继续事奉上帝。

不要认定一个人永远都是那么糟糕。我们可以靠着上帝的恩典，互相接纳，彼此学习，在必要时互相指正提醒，并在祂的爱中一同成长。

主啊，帮助我们亲近祢，
好让我们与主内肢体更加亲近。求祢保守教会合一，
除去祢儿女之间的分歧与不信任。