Genesis 32:3-5. And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother unto the land of Sier, the country of Edom. And he commanded them, saying, Thus shall ye speak unto my lord Esau; Thy servant Jacob saith thus, I have sojourned with Laban, and stayed there until now: and I have oxen, and asses, flocks, and menservants, and womenservants: and I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find grace in thy sight.
This was a wise and proper action on the past of Jacob, for he had grossly wronged his brother, and it was right for him to make advances toward a reconciliation. He prayed to God for help, but he also used such means as he could, - the means that ought always to be used when any of us realize that we have done an injury to others. We should even be willing to humiliate ourselves in order to make peace. I think that, when Christians differ from one another, there should be a holy emulation between them as to which shall be the first to give way, and which will give way the more to the other. How many quarrels might soon be ended if there were this spirit of conciliation among all professing Christians. I have heard of one, who had offended a brother Christian during the day; possibly, the brother-Christian had offended him quite as much. But the first one saw that the sun was going down, so he turned to seek his friend, that he might say to him, "Friend so-and-so, I was wrong in being angry today." Half-way between their two houses, they met, and each of them said, "I was just coming to say that I was wrong." There is no need of any arbitrator when each of the disputants is willing to say, "I was wrong," and the trouble is soon over when that point is reached. In this case, it certainly was Jacob’s duty to make some reparation to his brother, whether Esau accepted it or not.
Genesis 32:3-5. And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother unto the land of Sier, the country of Edom. And he commanded them, saying, Thus shall ye speak unto my lord Esau; Thy servant Jacob saith thus, I have sojourned with Laban, and stayed there until now: and I have oxen, and asses, flocks, and menservants, and womenservants: and I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find grace in thy sight.
This was a wise and proper action on the past of Jacob, for he had grossly wronged his brother, and it was right for him to make advances toward a reconciliation. He prayed to God for help, but he also used such means as he could, - the means that ought always to be used when any of us realize that we have done an injury to others. We should even be willing to humiliate ourselves in order to make peace. I think that, when Christians differ from one another, there should be a holy emulation between them as to which shall be the first to give way, and which will give way the more to the other. How many quarrels might soon be ended if there were this spirit of conciliation among all professing Christians. I have heard of one, who had offended a brother Christian during the day; possibly, the brother-Christian had offended him quite as much. But the first one saw that the sun was going down, so he turned to seek his friend, that he might say to him, "Friend so-and-so, I was wrong in being angry today." Half-way between their two houses, they met, and each of them said, "I was just coming to say that I was wrong." There is no need of any arbitrator when each of the disputants is willing to say, "I was wrong," and the trouble is soon over when that point is reached. In this case, it certainly was Jacob’s duty to make some reparation to his brother, whether Esau accepted it or not.