Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.
Jesus. Matthew 5:23, 24. Hi, it’s Nathan, and this is Day 18 of 30 Days on the Mount of Blessing. Jesus continues pressing the need to treat others well—calling out the mockery we make of religion when we profess faith in God, but don’t live it. Nothing could be farther from the object of Christian faith than to carry out religious practices while nurturing an unforgiving, bitter spirit. Certainly reconciliation is not possible in every case—yet, for us to refuse to forgive, or make no effort at reconciliation, flies in the face of the very transformation envisioned in the Gospel. Yes, there are ways this counsel has been grossly misapplied—such as insisting an abused wife to return to her abuser—but those abuses of Jesus’ counsel have been used far to often to excuse our own bitterness, propping up our own self-interest when we ought to be reaching out, working for reconciliation, or extending forgiveness.
