Matthew 5:22
So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift.
Scripture reminds us that God compels us to strive for in healthy, whole relationships. Even as we approach God with an offering we are instructed that peace between people must take precedence.
It is clear that loving one another (even the "other" who is unhappy with us or who has anything at all against us) is an offering of the heart and of the ego.
I wonder if I know how many people have grievances against me (or the type of attitudes or values I represent)? Suddenly I realize that some of the characteristics that I see as laudable may actually be a source of irritation to others. Wow.... sit down for a minute, Pamela, and look at this whole situation with respect for God's desire that you be reconciled with everybody you offend.
I can't be reconciled to the people who are unhappy with me without a deep humility...a lack of concern for my own esteem. I can't muster up that much humility on my own. But Jesus leads me to it. Because of God's capacity to see all others as precious, I can begin to see some doorways to reconciliation. Just beyond this or that threshold of fear or prejudice, somebody is standing. That "somebody" might be just the one who needs to hear me say: "I am sorry!"
Reconciliation -- it is a gift bestowed by God, through the sacrificial love of Christ which leads us away from self interest.
Pray for clarity about reconciliation. How does it beckon you? Whose face (or faces) are in the margins of those you call "friends"?
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