In a way this is a wonderfully fitting end to our walk through this short letter from Paul. We are all in this together.

As he begins to wrap up his letter, Paul is wanting to assure Philemon that he doesn’t want it to be awkward between them. In fact, they are still dear friends.

This is the one thing that Paul wants from Philemon: that he would be refreshed by the news that Philemon welcomed his former slave as a brother in Christ.

When we wrong one another, we can be faced with the temptation to hold the wrongdoing over the guilty party as a way of having the upper hand in the relationship.

How do you view the people in your church community? Are there certain people that you prefer to talk to above others? This is something that I think we are all guilty of.

When you are wronged by someone, how do you respond? How we want to respond, and how the gospel calls us to respond are often very different.

In any relationship, honesty is key. This is especially true in the church. When we are not real, not open, not honest with ourselves and those around us, we can easily become bitter.

We are one. When one hurts, we all do. Paul wants Philemon to see this as he sends Onesimus to him.

God uses each one of his children for his purposes in his kingdom. But there are moments when we forget the ‘usefulness’ of those around us.

When we are in the midst of difficult situations and find ourselves longing for a resolution, we can make all sorts of appeals. We can appeal to reason. We can appeal to our character. We can appeal to a process. But there is an even better way.

Philemon loves his church. His love is an infectious love and deeply encourages those around him. Imagine if we all loved like this.

As we walk together, we grow together. Through seasons of joy and seasons of hardship, we grow together. This is the beauty of the body of Christ.

Philemon seems like the kind of person who loves his church in big ways. They meet in his home; he’s most likely one of the leaders in the church, and sacrificially loves them. It is these types of people that our churches need.

The Gospel is about reconciliation. God being reconciled to humanity through the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. But how often do we think about how this ‘Gospel reconciliation’ impacts our relationships with each other?