Some of you might have read my previous post titled, “What is a Peacemaker?” This topic of loving one another, being a person of peace, reconciliation, etc…, has been on my mind and heart a lot lately.
I have been reading Matthew and I got to some of the hard sayings of Jesus in His Sermon on the Mount. Jesus taught about anger and he said, “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.”
What struck me this time is that even though Jesus loved us so much that He would give everything just to offer us back a place at the table, He put a contingency on us coming to Him. Jesus seems to do this more than we would like to admit. He said, “don’t even come to me; don’t even bring your worship or your offering. Stop your piety right now and go reconcile to the one who has something against you!” (Jordan’s paraphrase) In other words, He is not interested in us even coming to Him unless we are fully committed to reconciliation with those around us.
So many times we do things even out of the purpose of our “calling” or our “worship to Him,” but our calling and our worship to Him is making things right with our neighbors and our enemies! This hits home for me because one of the top reasons missionaries leave the field is because of other missionaries! We are so busy pursuing our calling even if it means stomping on our fellow believers to do it.
Let’s take a minute and ask God, do I need to reconcile with anyone today?
