Now a man who was lame from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts.
- Acts 3:2

The man in today’s passage would have a whole web of relationships. He would have family members and neighbors. He would have people he knew from childhood. He would have fellow-beggars, coworkers in the difficult work of seeking charity.

When God healed this man’s inability to walk, that healing would affect all of this man’s relationships. God, in fact, is majorly involved in the business of healing relationships.

Relationships get funky for a variety of reasons. Selfishness, insecurity, jealousy, deception … we could add a hundred items to this list. We often find ourselves facing relational conflict, relational breaks or just plain funky relationships and just can’t figure out how to fix them.

Our efforts to fix our relationships on our own often end in disaster. We try to explain what we meant and we only make it worse. We pretend like nothing happened but the coolness doesn’t go away. We try to wheedle an apology out of someone and they try to get one from us (imagine the nerve!).

God’s power often heals relationships. He makes forgiveness possible. He gives the spiritual fruit of patience. He fills us with love for the people with whom we experience broken relationships.

And our community, filled with grace and the Holy Spirit, should be a place where we’re continually seeing relationships get healthier and healthier. We love each other enough to seek reconciliation. We trust each other enough to be honest. We have God’s own power to forgive each other.

How have you seen God transform and heal your relationships? How has your spiritual community influenced your capacity for healthy relationships?