“…First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.” (Matthew 5:26).
The other day on Facebook, I saw a mother, who I know, post a comment about how proud she was of her older children supporting their youngest sibling. It was a lovely post, and she concluded it with a very funny little comment about how this was a nice change from the evening before when her children had been actively trying to kill each other…
And I had a good long laugh at that post because my own children are exactly the same (and I suppose that I am the same with my own siblings). They will always support each other, but there are times, when they look as though they really do not like each other at all!
And I have been thinking about that today because it is quite exhausting as a mother to have to constantly remind my children to love each other and to support each other, because even though I know that they actually do love each other, they have difficulty expressing it sometimes…
And this reminded me of my Eternal Parent, God Himself…
You see, Christ said, “You have heard that it was said to the men of old, ‘You shall not kill; and whoever kills shall be liable to judgment.’ Everyone who is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother shall be liable to the council, and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be liable to the hell of fire. 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.” (Matthew 5:20-26).
There it is in black and white 0 God just wants us to be nice to each other – to love each other – and to simply get along. It is not even a terribly big request, and more along the lines of common sense, and still it seems at times impossible.
And what does charity look like as a Christian? Well, it looks like not gossiping, not being mean or sarcastic in my comments. It looks like being nice to others and actively looking for ways to help them – even when I do not agree with the ways that they have chosen to do things.
And I have been thinking about that as I think about the offerings that I leave at the altar, because my Lord and my God asks me to look after my siblings FIRST and then come to Him. And when I stop and think about that today, it seems to me that I have quite a long way to go before I dare approach my Beloved with my requests…
For my Beloved wants nothing more than my love – completely and wholeheartedly – right here, among my siblings…
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.