Wednesday Reading: Matthew 18:15-20
Key Verse: Matthew 18:15
15 But if your brother shall trespass against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother.
Devotion:
How many times have you had someone do something wrong against you and the first thing that you do is to go and tell everyone else what they have done to you rather than try and confront them first? It is something that we do tend to do and in doing so we are driving a wedge between us and them as soon as we start spreading the bad news… We do not like it when it happens against us, so why should we be the ones doing this to others?
If you did something wrong against someone by mistake and they went and told all of your friends what you did, how would you feel about it thinking that all of your friends may well think that you did that on purpose rather than by mistake? We do have to give people the benefit of the doubt otherwise we are assuming they are guilty before seeing the proof! God does not accuse us of being guilty until He can prove to us that we have been guilty. He gives us the chance to come forward and to admit to that guilt and to sort things out before it is too late – we are the ones that choose not to come forward and accept that guilt before Him.
Being able to be more open about issues between us and others will allow us to live closer and with greater harmony than before. As long as we are not wiling to allow people to see what they have done wrong before we accuse them in front of the world, we alienate them from our possible friendship. If Jesus Himself told us to love our neighbours, then should we not be doing exactly that and giving people the chance to admit to doing things wrong before we accuse them?
Christ has shown us the ultimate example by submitting Himself as a perfect sacrifice before us and for us so that we can freely come to Him knowing that He will forgive us for the things that we do wrong. He is the one that has made the first move so that we can feel more at ease. We need to follow on in His example and make that first move so that people around us can know that we are willing to talk before we accuse, that we are willing to forgive when they are willing to come forward. It is not easy when we know they are in the wrong, but it is what Christ would have us to do.
Points to Ponder:
Do you jump to conclusions?
Are you coming to Christ?
