Offering Your Gift

Good Morning,

Matthew 5:22-24 (NIV)
"You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.' But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, 'Raca,' is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell. Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift."

We have a simple principle to think about today. Jesus is telling us that we really ought not to have anger one against another. We are not to call one another "fool" or use any other derogatory words for one another. We are not even supposed to "offer your gift" if there is a problem with another brother or sister.

We are taught here that even anger will be judged as murder and be held to judgement. Now, that's pretty strong, isn't it? And Jesus tells us that when we use words such as "fool" toward a brother or sister that we "will be in danger of the fire of hell."

So, simply put, today we are being asked to examine our relationships with one another to see if there is any anger toward someone, or if we know that we've done something to anger someone. We are asked to think about the terms we've used in describing one another to see if we've gone against Jesus' teaching about this. And, we are being reminded to ask forgiveness and forgive before we next go to church to offer our gifts at the alter.

I think that we can probably all think of someone with whom we need a bit of reconciliation. I also think that we need to ask God for His forgiveness for some of the things said about someone.

I'm thinking today would be a good day. You?

Love, peace, and blessings,

David