Matthew 5:21–26
21“You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not commit murder’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.’ 22“But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing,’ shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell. 23“Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering. 25“Make friends quickly with your opponent at law while you are with him on the way, so that your opponent may not hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and you be thrown into prison. 26“Truly I say to you, you will not come out of there until you have paid up the last cent.
Focused Thinking:
Yesterday we dealt with Jesus authority as the embodiment of the Word of God; today we are going to deal with the specifics of what He taught.
What does Jesus say?
‘You shall not commit murder’
‘Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.’
22“But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court;” Whoever says to his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing,’ shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.
Is it possible to murder someone without being angry with them?
Anger is a root of all kinds of evil.
Anger is the seed of murder.
Every small sin is determined to be a big sin.
If we deal with the anger problem, how many other problems will disappear?
Does a critical attitude disappear?
Does a gossip attitude disappear?
Does an unforgiving spirit disappear?
Does a revengeful spirit disappear?
Personal Application:
What angers me? What are the first things that come to my mind?
These are honest responses so don’t judge me; you try to answer the question honestly. I’m not saying these are righteous expressions of anger; I’m simply saying these are expressions of anger that I experience. Angered can be a strong word for some of these examples below but I’m definitely frustrated and restraining myself from anger. I am naturally a passionate person that comes from a family that has a history of anger issues so I’m constantly restraining myself in this area.
Family:
I’m angered when my son disrespects his mom.
I’m angered when my son doesn’t give 100% effort.
Myself:
I’m angered when I disappoint myself or disappoint others.
I’m angered when I don’t discipline myself spiritually and physically.
I’m angered when I’m not clear enough in my leadership.
I’m angered when I’m not courageous enough in my leadership.
I’m angered when I’m too patient and don’t speak the truth in love soon enough.
I’m angered when it is our fault that we don’t achieve our goals.
Others:
I’m angered when people take shortcuts instead of giving it their best.
I’m angered when people make “God” excuses for personal choices.
I’m angered when people are spiritually dishonest (hypocritical).
I’m angered when people are critical and ugly to people.
What do I need to do to grow in this area?
I need to be CLEAR with my expectations.
I need to be CONFIDENT in my leadership.
I need to be COURAGEOUS in my decisions.
I need to be CARING in my relationships.
Forgive me for putting my answers in preacher language, it is just the way I think now.
My life/faith has to have a level of risk involved or I don’t feel like I’m doing anything.
Focused Thinking:
Matt 5:23–24
23“Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering.
Broken relationships demand attention immediately.
If your brother has something against you, GO to your brother.
If you have something against your brother, GO to your brother.
- Quit waiting on the other person to GO.
We know when something is wrong, GO and make it right.
- Quit worshipping the God of love when you can’t love your brother. Go love your brother and come back worship the God of love.
First be reconciled to your brother. What does that say about God?
As a Father I’d rather have my children reconciled than to have an offering from them.
As a Father I’d rather have unity among my family than us go to church divided to worship the God of unity.
Personal Application:
Fight for truth (last 10%) and connection by raising and resolving issues quickly.
Don’t triangulate; hand negatives up and positives down.
Reinforce communication with clear documentation: decisions made and action points.
Matt 25:25–26
25“Make friends quickly with your opponent at law while you are with him on the way, so that your opponent may not hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and you be thrown into prison. 26“Truly I say to you, you will not come out of there until you have paid up the last cent.
Make friends quickly with your opponent…
Raise and resolve issues quickly.
Keep it relational instead of legal.
Keep in your control instead of the judge’s control.
If you refuse to take the initiative.
If you refuse to seek reconciliation.
If you refuse to ask for forgiveness.
If you refuse to receive forgiveness.
Forgiveness says, “You owe me, but I’ll pay your debt.”
What does God say when people refuse to forgive and reconcile?
“Truly I say to you, you will not come out of there until you have paid up the last cent.”
Interactive Prayer:
Father, Your Word is so complete. It is sharper than a double edge sword. It cuts me and heals me at the same time. Thank you for always speaking so clearly and boldly to me. Thank you for never leaving me in my contentment. Thank you for always revealing more of Yourself to me. Thank you for loving me when I’m unlovely. Thank you for inspiring when I’m down. Thank you for believing in me when I’m doubting. Thank you for showing me the priority and importance of relationships in everything.
Father, help our leadership team build incredible environments for people to build friendships. Give us the leaders we need in order to provide quality connect groups. Father, encourage and strengthen Keri in her role. Give her the vision and ability to recruit leaders, equip leaders and empower leaders. Father, help us build missional groups. Give us the ability to truly become a movement of God.
Give the ability to help husbands and wives build healthy relationships. Help us equip families to love You supremely and to replace anger with love in their families. Father, give us the ability to be family to the single parent families. Give us the ability to be family to the Overton families. Give us the ability to be family to Celebrate Recovery families.
Father, I pray that my son wouldn’t have anger issues. Give him the ability to replace anger with love. Ninety plus percente of the time anger create problems. Father, give us the ability to be people of peace instead of anger. Father, make us a people who are known by love. Father, bless and anoint my life, my family and our church. Father, glorify yourself in and through our lives.
Father, I pray for Chuck and Michelle. Please give Chuck the ability to focus his mind on You and not on circumstances. Give him the ability to love Your Word, to pray Your Word and to live Your Word. I pray for his children. Give them the ability to see the glory of God and to respond with repentance and faith. Please do a life-changing work in his children. Give Michelle the ability to heal, to rest, to refocus and to refuel. Give her the ability to love You, Chuck and her family in a holy and healthy way.
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