The Silent Treatment

There was a couple that had a bitter argument that resulted in them both giving each other the silent treatment. After two full days of not talking to each other, the man knew he needed his wife’s help. He had a business meeting, and he needed to wake up early to catch a flight to Chicago. Not wanting to be the one to break the silence, he wrote his wife a note that said, “Please wake me up at 5 AM.” The next morning when he woke up it was 9 AM, and his wife was up and about. Furious, he was about to go demand to know why she did not wake him, when he noticed the note beside his pillow that said, “Its 5 AM. Wake up.”

No marriage is perfect; for that matter, no relationship is perfect. There will always be arguments, fights, and conflicts, but the story above is a good example of why we should never let the sun go down on our wrath (Ephesians 4:26). When we put our problems off until another day, those problems often times become worse. Sweeping problems under the rug does not make them go away, it only allows them to fester beneath the surface, making the eventual cleanup harder than if the mess had been dealt with right away.

If there is a person that you are currently at odds with, the best thing you can do is reach out to that person as soon as possible and try to mend the relationship. When people choose to live in conflict with others, they often times do not even remember what the original problem was; instead, they remember all the snide remarks and sideways looks that have come after the conflict began. If they had tried to repair the relationship sooner, there would not have been as much to deal with.

Fixing a relationship is important because we want to regain that brother or sister. It is wrong to think we can choose to not forgive, and then go about our business as if everything is ok. Jesus said it is a waste of time to offer a gift to the Lord if we have not tried to make restoration with that person. He said, “If you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift (Matthew 5:24).” In other words, God is not interested with our acts of worship if we are not willing to first do our part to repair a relationship. If you haven’t felt close to God lately, maybe there is another relationship you need to work on so that your walk with God will improve.