Settle Matters Quickly!

We all have a tendency to neglect things in our lives, sometimes it's just easier if we leave it alone. Jesus however didn't see this as the way to deal with the issue of hurting people, He instructs us as to what we need to do when we acknowledge that there is hurting people around us. Let's look a scripture dealing with this.

"Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.  "Settle matters quickly with your adversary…”  Matthew 5:23-25

I want to give you three simple ways to remember to follow this scripture, Stop, Drop and Give! We will keep things simple and in order so all you have to do is remember Stop, Drop and Give!

1) STOP AND ACKNOWLEDGE THOSE YOU HAVE HURT.

Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar.  Matthew 5:23-24

Acknowledging there's a problem is the first place to start! We have many families that are hurting bad and won't heal because nobody wants to acknowledge there's a problem. Another reason for this is that we all judge ourselves differently than we judge others. We judge people according to their actions and we judge ourselves according to our intentions. We meant well and meant no harm and therefore we judge ourselves accordingly! A perfect example is a relationship between a father and son, the father knows that he means no harm to the boy, so no matter how hard he may be on him, he judges his actions according to his intentions. He judges his son according to his actions which seem to be disrespectful. This happens going in the other way as well. The son didn't mean to be disrespectful and therefore judges himself according to his intentions and judges the father according to his actions, which is, he never even tries to understand me. This is killing families all across the world!

Stop and acknowledge there is a problem is number one, now we move to number two!

2) DROP EVERYTHING TO MAKE IT RIGHT.

 …leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.  Matthew 5:24

There is an urgency here! Once acknowledgement has taken place, deal with it! Jesus says, (my words of course) don't worry about your gifts, don't worry about what's going on in the world, just DROP everything and make it right! 

Proverbs 6:2-5 tells us …if you have been trapped by what you said…then do this…to free yourself…Go and humble yourself…plea with your neighbor!  Allow no sleep to your eyes, no slumber to your eyelids.  Free yourself…

Now when you do this you may get many different response's, I know I did! Some will say "I have no idea what you're talking about" and that's cool! Others will say "No worries, it's squashed, let's love each other and move on!" But just so you know some will say "No, it's to late, it's over, leave me alone, stay away!" Hey, I just want you to be ready, I heard all of these. So you do your part and leave the rest to God. It's not always going to be the perfect outcome. If we are never going to have any enemies than why did Jesus talk about them so much? Sometimes it will not be possible to do, even Paul recognized this!

If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.  Romans 12:18

If it is possible? Yep, that means sometimes it may not be possible. I know it tweaked my doctrine a little bit too. But let's move on to Give!

3) GIVE YOUR HEART AND GIFTS TO GOD.

First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.  Matthew 5:24

Now that you have done what you were suppose to, Jesus says "come offer your gift." That is so awesome! Now I am at the altar, before God and He is ready to receive me as much as I am ready to give of myself. Who knows what may happen between me and my Lord now? I could jump up and preach to the chairs in my dinning room right now. Thank you Jesus for a pattern to follow to get closer to you.

Here’s what Jesus is saying "the most important things in this life is, relationships!

Stop, Drop and Give!

In Matthew 22:37 – 40 when Jesus was asked what was the most important commandments, He said to love the Lord your God with all your heart! Relationship!

And then He said love your neighbor as yourself! Relationship!