Have you ever been offended? Have you ever had your feelings hurt? Have you ever been jerked around? If you are human of course, you have. Jesus gives us some wisdom to handle these situations.
Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar and go your way. First, be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Matthew 5:23,24
So many times in our lives, little things flare up between friends. They often are quick emotional responses that don't need to become anything more but if we dwell on them, allow an offense to set into our lives, then they become bigger than they should be. Soon there is a major offense and a breach in the relationship.
Jesus is saying, if you come to meet with the Lord with your giving, your time, your service and all of a sudden the Holy Spirit alerts you to something, stop what you are doing and deal with it. The word used for something quite literally means "anything." In other words, if the Holy Spirit alerts you to anything, that means He considers it important. It is most likely something which will hinder who you are or your walk. So pay attention, if the Lord brings something to mind! Even if it's not your fault!
The word "reconciled" means mutual concession after mutual hostility. It is the idea of choosing to let something go and refusing to let it be an issue. Jesus is calling us to make things right between us. Most of the problems between brothers and sisters in Christ are often insignificant and if let go, will be something that you can laugh about later. It is often our pride that gets in the way and allows an offense to take hold. We need to ask, is this a legitimate and serious or is it something that we have let get out of hand. Jesus is saying, the Holy Spirit doesn't just bring things up for fun. He brings them up for us to handle. We can even still disagree, but we will agree to not allow the difference of opinion hurt our relationship anymore.
Unfortunately, there are people who will not reconcile with us. For whatever reason, they would rather allow something to control them rather than let it go. If you have done what the Holy Spirit has asked you to do, then you need to let it go and allow the Holy Spirit to keep working on the other person. However, you can feel free to come back and allow the Holy Spirit to work through you in all of your gifts, giving, and ministry.
All of our relationships can be complicated, but the Lord wants them all to be blessed. Allow Him to bless you!
1 comment:
This is good! I try to always approach a problem or misunderstanding before it gets to out of control. There have been times when I have been shut down but I remember hearing that if I go to someone to make amends and they don’t receive it that my hands are freed from the issue and the ball is now in their court! I don’t get offended to easily so I always ask someone who may be upset if I did something to offend them, hopefully they will be honest and if I did let me know it so we can work through it. Sometimes some relationships just don’t work. But as you said it’s ok to agree to disagree, as long as we remain Christ-like and not in a retaliation mode. Thanks again for my daily nudge 🤗 (is that even a word)
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