relationships (Matthew 5:21-26) Reconciling Quickly

(Matthew 5:21-48)

21 “You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not murder,’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be answerable to the court.’ 22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be answerable to the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing,’ shall be answerable to the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell. 23 Therefore, if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there you remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering. 25 Come to good terms with your accuser quickly, while you are with him on the way to court, so that your accuser will not hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and you will not be thrown into prison. 26 Truly I say to you, you will not come out of there until you have paid up the last quadrans.

TODAY'S TAKEAWAY

People think that they just have to be "good enough" (whatever that means).  People will try to argue how good they are, and that they will be going to heaven because they deserve it.  Afterall, it's not like they've killed anyone.  Well, here, Jesus is saying that even if we have been angry with someone, or called someone a name... we DESERVE to be punished.  We will go to hell.

Now, here's something very important to know.  God doesn't want to punish anyone. God desires all come to know Him personally and have a relationship with Him.  God would love nothing more than for all people to humbly go before Him to be reborn... so He can adopt everyone and make them His children.  BUT God is holy and cannot have a relationship with sin.  PROBLEM: we all have sinned and fall short of God's glory.  SOLUTION: the Lord came in flesh to pay the price for all sin on the cross and have victory over sin and death, so that anyone who believes will have everlasting life.

God's standards are high!  To please Him and get to heaven, we must be perfectly holy and righteous.  And for us to come even close to God's standards in our efforts is impossible.  The only way we can please the Lord is to become a believer, and to accept the love and salvation of Jesus into our hearts, which changes us internally.  Our relationship of love with the Lord will become evident by how we treat others, especially how we treat other believers, as well as our enemies.

Now, this is easier said than done.  While our sins have been forgiven, we are still in our sinful flesh, therefore we will still struggle, and we will run into disagreements with loved ones, family members, Christian brothers and sisters, friends, co-works, peers and neighbors...  While the world's way of managing these issues will be to ignore, avoid, manipulate, bully, or retaliate with gossip, lies and violence... here is the way to live out God's love and Law in these situations... 

• As soon as someone hurts us, we are to forgive (whether they apologize or not), or we will become angry, bitter and vengeful, and that will only make things worse.  Therefore, to facilitate peace, we must forgive and let God manage the rest.  And from experience, I can tell you that this works!  

• If the relationship is such, we can go to them and let them know that what they did to hurt us, and/or what is hurtful to others, as well as themselves.  It should be our prayer and hope that they will accept the feedback in order to change their behavior, and see the need to become a believer if they are not already.

• As well, as soon as we realize that we have hurt someone else, we are to go to them and apologize (whether they forgive us or not).  Just in this action alone, we will experience God's peace in our lives, since we have done what God asks of us.  And with the prayer and hope that the other person will be open to reconciling, we will find that these relationships can become even stronger than before.  And if that person isn't a believe already, this can very often be what encourages them to seek out a relationship with the Lord.  

• And of course, for ourselves, when we make these mistakes, which are sin, when we confess these to the Lord, He is faithful and forgives.  And, it is more than just "forgiveness".  From my personal experience, I have learned that when I'm obedient to confessing my sins as I realize them, in that moment, the Lord changes me internally, and I mature, even delivering me from things that I assumed were chronic (like PTSD).

God doesn't want us to be punished, or to struggle along in life, or be surrounded by relationships of tension, drama, worry, fear or hate.  He wants us to have a life with purpose, courage, joy and love.  He wants to do life WITH us, and guide us along, so we may experience His goodness to the fullest.  It all starts with first reconciling with God (through Jesus' salvation) and maintaining a healthy relationship with Him!