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But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness Gal 5:22 |
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| Archived Manna: | |
Dear
Friend,
If you do not already have a habit of gathering daily manna the first thing in the morning (we can look at the example given to us in Exodus 16 and find the pattern for make it a habit. Establish your life and your schedule to allow you the necessary time to do your daily collection first thing every morning to give you the strength to make it through the day. And remember that today’s manna will not be sufficient for tomorrow; tomorrow’s manna must be collected tomorrow morning. Sunday, May 25, 2025
Today's Passage : Today'sPassage:Forgiveness [3] — Making Peace with Others BibleVerse:Matthew 5:23-24 "So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. " Message:
e discussed the importance of forgiveness and how to overcome some of the difficulties when forgiveness seems impossible. The flip side of forgiveness is making amends—when you have done something that has caused someone to be angry with you—and very often, the two problems come in one basket.
This may be harder than it sounds, because nowhere does Christ limit our duty to make peace to situations where we think we have done something wrong. The issue, to Christ, is not who is “right” or “wrong”; the only issue is whether someone is angry with you for something you have said or done. Nor are we justified because the other person hurt us first. Christ tells us that if our brother slaps our cheek, we should turn our head so that he can slap the other cheek.
Cain and Abel by Titian
Cain and Abel
Critical words sound more hurtful to the target than to the person speaking them, and deeds that hurt another seem far more serious to the victim than the perpetrator. This is such a powerful truth that often, when we have hurt someone else deeply, we have no idea we have done so.
And especially if we are actually accused of doing something wrong, we generate a one-sided wall of defensiveness and self-righteousness like an attorney in court. We are champions at coloring a situation to make ourselves look good; and so, if we have an angry argument with someone, it will always seem to us as if we are in the right.
So we must set aside our attempts to judge who is “right” and “wrong” when we have offended someone, because our judgment will be warped by our self-interest. Our nature is to justify ourselves; our religion is to be justified through faith. Self-justification, and its big brother self-righteousness, are the path to hell. Shall we choose our own pride, or the will of God, when we believe in the righteousness of our dispute with our neighbor?
The teaching of Christ overcomes this. Christ has told us, flat out, that if we offend someone, we must apologize. And this duty is so strong that we may not come before God, we may not even worship before His altar, until we are reconciled.
Christian racial harmony
If we have offended someone, we must apologize and make amends whether or not we think we have done something wrong. Our duty is to be reconciled, not to be vindicated.
And a true apology does not mean saying, “I am sorry that you made the mistake of misinterpreting my (perfectly justified) words/actions and became unreasonably angry.” A true apology admits error; it seeks to see a disagreement from the eyes of the other person. A true apology is “I am sorry I did what I did and said what I said.” Not because we were wrong, but because we angered and hurt someone who, even if we don’t like them very much, is God’s beautiful and beloved child.
This particular passage uses the term “brother (or sister),” so it is possible to read the duty as pertaining only to other Christians.
Meditation : Prayer : Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen. |
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