God of rain and sunshine, pour out Your blessings upon the needs of this dear reader; in Christ Jesus I pray, amen.
Our text for today is from Matthew 5: 21 "You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, "You shall not murder'; and "whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.' 22 But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment; and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, "You fool,' you will be liable to the hell of fire. 23 So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift. 25 Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are on the way to court with him, or your accuser may hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. 26 Truly I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.
Jesus sure knew how to make things tough for us, didn't He? Who hasn't been angry at a brother or sister? But have you remembered to reflect on Jesus' words about the "murder" that goes into anger? Jesus' interpretation is correct. We as humans sometimes take our anger to extremes and while we may not literally kill someone, we do wish them dead or think them dead or treat them as if they had already died. That kind of anger is not worth it. Jesus' message was all about reconcilation and restoration. His primary purpose was to call people back to God into a right relationship and once that is established, our call is to deal with each other in a loving, grace-filled, forgiving way.
If you've been angry at someone, did you "kill" them? I pray that it's not too late to make a prayerful attempt at reconcilation. Jesus says our worship is not good if we are not right with others. Let's be right with each other, then ourselves, then with God.
PRAYER: Loving God help me to be a person of love today. Help me to remember that I am to affirm life even in my relationships. Let anger not get me to that point where I "kill" those whom are precious to me. I ask this in Christ Jesus' precioud and powerful name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord.
Eradio Valverde
