Be Careful What You Think About...

...because it may as well be true.

Jesus addresses our thoughts and attitudes in the second half of Matthew 5. He begins by addressing our anger, more specifically our unjust anger. There is such thing as righteous anger, its just that too many times we get angry with others without cause. Jesus begins to make some pretty difficult statements that will challenge our faith versus our religious actions.

As Christians we enjoy worship and fellowship. We even enjoy taking part in Sunday School, prayer and giving. Jesus tells us though that before we do any of these things we should "First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift." 5:24b This is somewhat challenging when we have wronged someone, we probably feel some sense of guilt and know that we should make it right. But what about when someone has wronged us? Its much easier to harbor resentment than guilt and still find a way to worship and praise God. But as we look closer at this word "reconcile" the meaning in this context means to "take the initiative no matter the issue." Not so easy now. It does not matter how the relationship with another is fractured, it is our job to take the initiative to restore and reconcile so that our worship of Jesus Christ will not be hindered.

Jesus continues by giving us the picture of someone thrown into prison. He says that "you by no means will get out until you have paid the last farthing." 5:26 During this time in history people were thrown into debtors prison for debts they owed. The only way they could get out was to pay the debt or they would die there. The only other option would be to have someone come and pay their debt for them. Sort of sounds like what Jesus did for us doesn't it?