Some restoration efforts have been derailed by focusing on details of lesser importance. To the Pharisees, Jesus said,
Woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and every herb, and neglect justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. (Luke 11:42)
RESTORED TO CHRIST
Though all of God’s word is truth (Psalm 119:160; John 17:17), it contains “weightier matters” (Matthew 23:23). We are restored to the Person, Jesus Christ. He sets priorities that begin with relationships. The first is to love the Father with all our being. The second is to love our neighbors as ourselves (Mark 12:29-31), with special care for God’s children (John 13:35; Galatians 6:10; 1 John 5:1). Some use their superior knowledge of the Bible to tear others down. That is cruel pride, not restoration. “‘Knowledge’ puffs up, but love builds up” (1 Corinthians 8:1). There are times for confrontation (Galatians 2:11), but the Golden Rule—“as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them”—always applies (Luke 6:31 cf. Matthew 7:12). “Show perfect courtesy toward all people” (Titus 3:2).
The Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth. (2 Timothy 2:24-25)