Leave It!
- “If you stay angry at your brother/sister your guilty of judgment.”
- If you call someone “fool, empty headed” you are to be brought before the religious officials
- Finally, if you call someone, “moron, good for nothing”, then you are guilty of hellfire!
The words of our Lord cut to the marrow. He further instructs, “If you are offering a gift at the altar and remember that your brother has something against you, leave it there, go and be reconciled to your brother and then come and offer your gift.” Be authentic in your worship. He knows who you really are. You are not fooling him. Deal with your relationships as God would have you and get right with other Christians. If your horizontal relationships are not right then your vertical relationship will not be right either.
Please don’t shoot the messenger. I know I don’t know your situation(s). You don’t mine either. I have had plenty of excuses but the single focus of this christian woman should be – a right relationship with God – there are no more excuses. Whatever He says to do – I should do it. His relationship is my primary relationship. What about you?
Maybe you want to reconcile and make right the relationship, but the other person refuses. Paul gives us clarity for this very thing. In Romans 12:18 Paul tells the Roman believers that if it is possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. You and I can’t make anyone do the right thing. We’ve all tried! It doesn’t work. Give them to Jesus. Hand them over in your prayer time. We are not to take our own revenge but “leave room for the wrath of God.” Sisters, He will take care of you! My goal and yours should be to “work at living in peace with everyone, and making holiness primary in our lives.”
So, I don’t know who is angry at you, but let’s stop playing around. God knows. You do the right thing. It will take humility. It might even take you saying, six words, “I was wrong, please forgive me.” It might be that you weren’t wrong but were wronged. Grace is the answer. Can we extend mercy and grace to someone who has hurt us? It will be hard! It will be uncomfortable but oh how the church needs a good dose of: leaving it, reconciling it, and then coming to offer it. Can you even imagine how powerful it could be to a watching world if we began really practice what we preach?
So what do you say? Will you do your part? I hope so.
If you are in Columbus, Ohio this coming Monday, June 15th – 16th, come by the Contagious Joy booth at the Women’s Expo held in the Hyatt downtown, outside of the Regency ballroom. I would love to see you!
How have you handled conflict and people being angry with you? Join me in the here and or in the safe place of the forum. Remember you will need to log in with your username and password to comment in our secure & safe forum. Thankful He plucked me out and called me His girl!
