Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift. (Matthew 5:23-24; NIV)
Relationships can be messy, twisted, difficult, complicated. Not only love relationships, but those with friends, co-workers, siblings, neighbors, etc. Many times we just don’t know how or what we should do to mend any broken relationships we are experiencing.
So why does God want us to reconcile our relationships before we offer our gifts to Him?
We love because he first loved us. Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister. (1 John 4:19-20; NIV)
John tells us that if we “hate a brother or sister” then our love for God is not what we proclaim it to be. If our gifts are a symbol of our worship and love for our God and all He has done for us, then having hate in our hearts for others must in some way diminish the motivation of our gifts.
Holiday seasons – especially Christmas – tend to be times when many seem more open to mending broken relationships. My prayer is that those of us experiencing turmoil in relationships will take the opportunity of the season to find a way to start the reconciliation process and move toward a deeper love for our brother and our God.
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