Heralds Digest

  “ A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city: And their contentions are like the bars of a castle. A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: And there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.” Proverbs 18 : 19 , 24 KJV One of the greatest havoc in offences is the separation of the heart of man from great opportunities and privileges in friendship. Offences throw fences on all friendly dispositions, turning  brotherhood into bitterness. Whereas, “ A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly” implies that everyone in any relationship has a responsibility to keep his friendly feature intact, irrespective of the unfriendliness in the served offences. Offences can never go away by outsourcing the search for friendly features to our supposed offenders. And someone in all broken relationships, failed marriages, business disputes, and management conflicts must be willing to approach the Lord, who is “ a friend that sticketh closer than a b...

  “ A brother offended is harder to win than a strong city, And contentions are like the bars of a castle. A man who has friends must himself be friendly, But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. ” Proverbs 18 : 19 , 24 NKJV Relationship takes a great commitment to build, but it breaks easily, cheaply, and probably ceaselessly. This is because a brother’s brokenness is too deep to fix, except by the special grace of God. Without the intervention of God, a brother is apt to hide his brokenness with a carefully cultivated smile, cautiously established culture, and consistently regulated practices. For example, the fight against suicide bombers, kidnappers, and all kinds of social insecurities is hard to win because the broken offenders are often dressed and dine as brothers. Even in religious assemblies, friendly families, and our functional institutions, the challenges with business and project management or family relationships are readily influenced by the often d...

  “A brother offended is harder to win than a strong city, And contentions are like the bars of a castle. A man who has friends must himself be friendly, But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” ‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭18‬:‭19‬, ‭24‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ Why is a brother offended harder to win than a strong city? It is probably the reason why the scriptures admonish against disputes over doubtful things (Romans 14:1). Brothers or brethren have more advantages over one another’s strength and weaknesses, compared to a complete stranger. In reality, contentions, strife, and wars are readily fought with the assistance of a compromised insider. Only a fool goes to war without the gathering of intelligent information from an insider. Unfortunately, most peace accords have failed because they are perceived by parties as another intelligent avenue for information gathering from an insider. Therefore, the scriptural recommendation is that “ A man who has friends must himself be friendly ”; which is...