Day 33 “Self righteous indignation has no value and profits no one.”

Day 33

Matthew 5:21-24 “You have heard it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ But I say to you whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to His brother ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You Fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire. “Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.”

As we see in this passage, the relationship between man and God is very dependent upon the relationship between man and mankind. The Lord wants us to live in unity upon the earth, as brothers and sisters united by His Spirit. If God is the embellishment of love, then should not we also be people who love, truly love? Remember John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” If God loves man who turns his back on Him, so much that He would sacrifice His Son, then what are we to do? Would you sacrifice your child for another human in order to insure life eternal for them? Thankfully, God does not ask us to take such drastic measures. All He asks is that we make things right when they are wrong. You will notice that He draws no distinction as to who is at fault–He simply says, ‘go and make it right.’ The very act of humbling oneself to the point of approaching an offended brother is difficult enough. But, then throw in the fact that you were the one who was offended, now we have an entirely different set of circumstances. “You mean you want me to ask forgiveness from someone who did me wrong when I have every right to expect them to do so?” The answer, by the way, is yes. You see, if someone’s fellowship with God is being negatively affected by my relationship with them, and I can repair that fellowship by humbling myself, why wouldn’t I?

The bottom line is that no matter what reason we offer, pride is at the heart of our resistance. We desire to be justified, we desire to be correct, we desire to be acknowledged as such, we seek justice; however, God, who has every right to expect justice, extends to us grace. If He, the God of the universe, can extend grace and mercy to those who defile Him daily, then should we not be able to offer a small portion thereof to one of His children? After all, it is His grace that He has given to us that we ourselves will extend to another. Maybe this will be helpful. Could it be that we are now simply a conduit for His grace, and what we are giving is His, not ours; therefore, it costs us nothing?

Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that extending grace is easy or that everyone can do so with a smile on their face. I am, however, saying this, “If you learn to extend grace, you will find that there is a never-ending supply of it at your immediate disposal, and you will never regret it!” Go ahead, hand some out today and see what happens, you may be pleasantly surprised.

Daily Prayer: Father, I ask you to help me to extend grace and mercy to all who have ought against me, no matter what the cause. Teach me Lord to love more than I judge and forgive as You forgive. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen!

“Self righteous indignation has no value and profits no one.”

Gene Burroughs, Servant