For thought and meditation

[rl69]

If you…remember that your brother has something against you… MATTHEW 5:23
This verse says, “If you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you….” It is not saying, “If you search and find something because of your unbalanced sensitivity,” but, “If you…remember….” In other words, if something is brought to your conscious mind by the Spirit of God— “First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift” (Matthew 5:24). Never object to the intense sensitivity of the Spirit of God in you when He is instructing you down to the smallest detail.
“First be reconciled to your brother….” Our Lord’s directive is simple— “First be reconciled….” He says, in effect, “Go back the way you came— the way indicated to you by the conviction given to you at the altar; have an attitude in your mind and soul toward the person who has something against you that makes reconciliation as natural as breathing.” Jesus does not mention the other person— He says for you to go. It is not a matter of your rights. The true mark of the saint is that he can waive his own rights and obey the Lord Jesus.
“…and then come and offer your gift.” The process of reconciliation is clearly marked. First we have the heroic spirit of self-sacrifice, then the sudden restraint by the sensitivity of the Holy Spirit, and then we are stopped at the point of our conviction. This is followed by obedience to the Word of God, which builds an attitude or state of mind that places no blame on the one with whom you have been in the wrong. And finally there is the glad, simple, unhindered offering of your gift to God

[Goatwhiskers]

I am reminded of this verse regularly in recent times. I have a brother who moved away and broke all contact years ago, dunno how to find him. Got no idea who might be "at fault." I pray for him and his family often. GW

[USMC87]

Well my brother called me 2 years ago and had a grudge against me for things 30 years ago, We had not talked since. I called him yesterday and we talked for a while and I told him that nothing matters except Christ and His cause in our lives, He told me he was very sorry for all that happened and so am I. Always be the bigger man of God no matter if you are right or wrong. Amen.

[Blackwater]

What Christ tried to teach us was two things: 1. How to relate to Him and the Father and the Holy Spirit; and 2. How to relate to and deal with each other. And that's really it! So it makes sense that His intent is for us to settle things between us and our peers first, and THEN go to worship, rather than the other way around. I also think that if we've got something on our minds against our brother or sister, and go to worship, that element inhibits our full measure of devotion in our worship, and thus, inhibits our effective "contact" with the Lord and all that He wants for us.

We live in an age where it's "out of fashion" to work things out. It's fashionable now, it seems, to just "agree to disagree," and nobody wants to debate any more. A legitimate debate is lumped in with "arguments" that serve no purpose because the personalities involved have no intention of listening to the other's side, or of coming to terms on any matter. it's "all or nothing" now, it seems, and this has divided us, as a nation and a people, so sharply and vociferously that we are not far at all from a literal 2nd Civil War. And this one would be MUCH worse than the first one!

We are so terribly foolish! And selfish. We want everything our way - just like we want it, or nothing! This world has never been like that, and is never likely to be that way. But do we notice rational things like that? Noooooooo! We just want what we want, like spoiled little children who have never been disciplined. But God always disciplines us if and whenever we can't, won't or don't discipline ourselves. We've seen people gasp in disbelief when a candidate for the Supreme Court declares that he was a virgin well after he graduated high school! We find it hard to believe such a claim. But it happens. Yes, it's rare, but it happens. It's telling that we find it so hard to believe, but it's telling more about US than it is about others. The nihlistic cynicism that pervades our nation now seems to have dripped steadily into places where it has no place at all, as in the case of the minds and lives of us Christians.

But Christ gave us all the advice and instruction we could ever really need, if we'll just use it. We can overcome anything, if we just follow Him, and his instruction and advice. Anything.