Better Relationships
Part 3

“But be very careful to keep the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the Lord gave you: to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to keep his commands, to hold fast to him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.”
Joshua 22:5 (NIV)

When they came to Geliloth near the Jordan in the land of Canaan, the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh built an imposing altar there by the Jordan. And when the Israelites heard that they had built the altar on the border of Canaan at Geliloth near the Jordan on the Israelite side, the whole assembly of Israel gathered at Shiloh to go to war against them.
Joshua 22:10-12 (NIV)

Better communication listens with love.

1. Initiate.

So the Israelites sent Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, to the land of Gilead—to Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh.
Joshua 22:13 (NIV)

2. Clarify.

Then Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh replied to the heads of the clans of Israel…
Joshua 22:21 (NIV)

3. Resolve.

When Phinehas the priest and the leaders of the community—the heads of the clans of the Israelites—heard what Reuben, Gad and Manasseh had to say, they were pleased. And Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, said to Reuben, Gad and Manasseh, “Today we know that the Lord is with us, because you have not been unfaithful to the Lord in this matter. Now you have rescued the Israelites from the Lord’s hand.”
Joshua 22:30-31 (NIV)

“For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”
Matthew 18:20 (NIV)

Then Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, and the leaders returned to Canaan from their meeting with the Reubenites and Gadites in Gilead and reported to the Israelites. They were glad to hear the report and praised God. And they talked no more about going to war against them to devastate the country where the Reubenites and the Gadites lived.
Joshua 22:32-33 (NIV)

And the Reubenites and the Gadites gave the altar this name: A Witness Between Us—that the Lord is God.
Joshua 22:34 (NIV)