Making Restitution

We want to talk today about making restitution – making things right.  To make restitution is to restore something to its proper owner.  When we have harmed someone, we take responsibility for the harm done and do all in our power to make it right.  That might mean repaying money for things stolen, clearing up an attack on a person's reputation, or owning up to the truth for some action we previously blamed on them.  The list of wrongs needing to be righted is endless and is unique to each of our life experiences.

True restitution to others is challenging to make if we haven't first seen our own behaviour in the light of God's love.  Every time we harmed someone we broke God's laws. We harmed a person or persons God created and rejected God's beautiful world to live in the darkness of evil. 

It's helpful to remember that we owed a debt to God we could never repay.  God recognized the need for restitution to be made if our relationship with Him were to be healed and go forward in a positive way. 

What was God's response?  Through Jesus, He chose to pay the debt on our behalf and make restitution for all our wrongs. 

Christ carried our sins in his body on the cross. He did this so that we would stop living for sin and live for what is right. By his wounds you were healed. 1 Peter 2:24

Live like free people, but don’t use your freedom as an excuse to do evil. Live as those who are serving God.  1 Peter 2:16 

Now, as we recognize all that God has done for us in forgiving our sins and restoring us to a loving relationship with Him, we need to move towards operating more in gratitude and generosity towards others, especially where relationships have been damaged.  Although it’s never easy to make restitution, we will be so much more motivated to take the necessary steps when we reflect on God’s work of restitution in our own lives. 

Forgiving Heavenly Father, Thank You for Jesus who died on the cross for our sins so that we could be reconciled to You.  We ask for wisdom and courage to humbly approach family members or friends or colleagues, or whoever You bring to mind, and make restitution to them with a heart and mind that will honour You.  Amen

Where is restitution needed in our relationships today?  Let’s invite the Holy Spirit to bring names to our minds.  Then we probably need the gift of willingness from God to consider humbly approaching the offended person to make things right.  I can’t think of any action we could take that would please God more than making restitution to others we have let down or wronged. Let’s consider doing that today.