Jesus said to his disciples: "I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter into the Kingdom of heaven." You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment. But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment, and whoever says to his brother, Raqa, will be answerable to the Sanhedrin, and whoever says, 'You fool,' will be liable to fiery Gehenna. Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Settle with your opponent quickly while on the way to court with him. Otherwise your opponent will hand you over to the judge, and the judge will hand you over to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. Amen, I say to you, you will not be released until you have paid the last penny."
REFLECTION
"go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift".
The Pharisees and scribes were known for their strict adherence to the law-being morally right and justified. Jesus exhorts us that to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, our righteousness must be more than the Pharisees.
As God forgives the repentant of his sins no matter how horrific they are, He tells us that we, too, must do the same towards our neighbor. We say we are honest, compassionate, live a life of faith, worship and obey God. But how ready are we to forgive, stop being envious and jealous, quit gossiping, or critiquing with an agenda? Do we ignore someone but smile when we see them and act interested but leave them out of any activities, or forget about their needs and wants? We should eliminate the spirit of envy, jealousy, hatred, indifference, and the list can go on and on.
Are we able to forgive those who have destroyed our lives, injured us to the point that we seek vengeance and retribution? We can’t, but Jesus can. Give all to Him and let it go.
Uphold peace, promote justice and love to the least, lost and last. Remember, what we do to others we do to God.
Thank you for your thoughts!
🙏🏻♥️🙏🏻♥️🙏🏻