All of my life I I have heard the phrase “mending fences” in regard to seeking reconciliation.  If a relationship is strained, you strive to go “mend some fences” with that person.  It’s really descriptive.  When a friendship is meaningful, you open the gate to your heart.  Your friend is allowed into the areas of your life that are protected by a privacy fence.  Relational fences create healthy boundaries with the rest of the world.  Only those closest to you enter the gate that leads to your very heart. 

The storms of life blow down even the sturdiest of fences.  The strength of the fence is seriously compromised when trust is breached.  There are cases when your friend took a hammer and knocked the fence surrounding your heart completely down. And then you are left feeling vulnerable in ways you could have never imagined.

However, the courageous choose to mend fences.  Those that possess true courage invite their friend back into the area of their heart cordoned off by a fence, and mend what has been broken.

When I was doing some fence mending in my yard and not my heart last week, I had a compelling thought.  Mending is only a temporary fix.  Repairing a fence will last a short time. A total rebuild is the only long-term solution.  If a relational fence has been seriously compromised, mending will only provide a temporary fix for the friendship.  A firm commitment to tearing out the old, and rebuilding with new material is the only option for a bright future with each other.  

Do you need to mend fences with someone? Take that action. Seek reconciliation by all means. But if you are seeking long-term healing, then it will require some rebuilding.  If you want to enjoy the benefits of lifelong friendship, then invest in the materials of forgiveness, a peace-loving spirit, patience, and commitment.  Build a new fence with such attributes, and God will bless your construction process! 

Don’t allow relational breakdowns to destroy a priceless friendship.  Choose to do some mending for a temporary fix.  And then commit to a rebuilding process!