June 23th, 2024

21 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ 22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults[d] his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell[e] of fire. 23 So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. 25 Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. 26 Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.

The sermon on the mount is one of the most beautiful things a human can lay their eyes upon, it is Jesus' instructions of a virtuous life and a sort of continuation of the commandments as well as what being a human means to the eyes of God. Before listening to a sermon at church about the text above, I assumed that in terms of anger that a human can feel, God limited the definition of our sin merely to the hurt we can cause from our anger such as hurtful words or murder, but it goes so much far beyond this. In the sermon on the mount, Jesus tells us that even simply angry with someone is enough to be judged for, as it shows a lack of understanding and a mere human compassion of situations. God’s understanding and empathy for us is infinite and we can see that through his sacrifice for us through Jesus, we know we are not worthy, we know that we are extremely far from perfection and the perfect example of that is through our anger we naturally feel towards people that may or may have not wronged us. We are inherently wrong and that is why the world has so much suffering. What we know for sure is this, our unjust anger goes against God’s word and that that to look past meaningless anger that leads nowhere is to live in the likeness of God. This is an extremely hard pill to swallow in terms of our natural desires, as it is so much easier to be unforgiving towards other than to forgive. If someone shows disrespect towards you, do not hold a grudge against him but show understand and at least try to sort things out with others. One of my favorite sayings I have heard in this life is that ‘hurt people, hurt people’. I believe this expression helps to give understanding to those who have caused hurt in this world, implying that while it is their fault, there is more to their actions than the worst most selfish intention that your impression may be, causing you anger. We must remember to not hate the sinner but hate their sin, and show understanding and forgiveness towards the sinner. Only God is entirely justified to assert order in this world, and to judge the wrongdoings of others, it is our duty in our obligations to God to try and show understanding and forgiveness towards others, as he did through the death of His son. You must ask yourself, why is that person that way, we must realize that while in our forgiveness we may be taken advantage of, beyond our lives is when righteousness will be prevalent. In our attempts at love and understanding towards other, an unconditional love and sacrifice in the purpose of following the ways of Jesus, when even then, the other party may still commit wrongdoings, we must do as Jesus, as his message is consistent and following his ways of endless love and forgiving in this world show our respect towards His ways beyond this life,
“But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. (Matthew 5:39-40)
. It doesn’t matter what injustice is done against us here, as we must look at the bigger picture. Jesus tells us to go sort out our problems with others before coming to him and offering our gifts of worship. God is forever forgiving and loving, we are so far below him and we must follow His word and live our lives by it.
The word of God in its entirety shows us the key to living life. Through the bible, we can see the influences of the Holy Spirit, the creations of the Father and the sacrifice of the Son to see God’s character and plan for us in this world of mad decay and restless suffering. We must be persistent in our faith and turn a blind eye to things that may distract us from our faith and commitments to God.
All of this is easier said than done, but we must try. I am learning more everyday, trying to study the holy word and learn from it, prioritizing it and trying to fully understand how extremely important it is in its entirety. Every ideology and worldview requires an amount of faith in order to truly trust in that, but I can see through His word that he has given us that I know deep in my heart that my faith is worthwhile and is built on a foundation of gratitude, grace and love for the God that breathed life into us. Thank you my lord.