“But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.”
— Matthew 5:22–24 (KJV)
There are stark distinctions between the secular world and the Kingdom of God. As daily headlines constantly remind us, love and forgiveness are in short supply. Because the devil fathered this worldly system and its philosophy, it has no capacity for love or grace, as we see in John 8:44. Yet, as the ungodly work tirelessly to push Jesus Christ out of society, they ignore the old adage: “be careful what you wish for.”
Worldly relationships rise and fall on loyalty. In a society where people are constantly at each other’s throats, forgiveness is an absolute necessity. Paradoxically, many demand unconditional loyalty while remaining disloyal themselves. They crave love and respect, yet refuse to offer either in return.
C.S. Lewis once noted that people are remarkably blind to the very faults in themselves that are glaringly obvious to everyone else. Because people rarely see their own contradictions, they easily fall into the trap of unforgiveness and “broken fences.” Ultimately, the self-centeredness of the human mind leaves no path back to reconciliation, as denial blinds the parties involved and blocks any hope of restoration.
The Merciless Nature of the World
The world is generally a merciless place. When someone fails, they will live with that failure forever. The world typically makes your failure your identity. No matter how long ago the event took place, the person is never allowed to get past it. This is what happens in an environment of unforgiveness.
Moreover, the marring of relationships is often permanent. Friends break apart and never reconcile. Families break up and do not speak for thirty years, if ever. Enemies become enemies and remain enemies, as the root of bitterness and hatred runs deeper by the day. Priceless relationships can end over a few dollars, yet no amount of money can mend them.
When Left to Themselves
The depravity of man was first revealed when Abel was killed by his own brother in Genesis 4. Abel served as an ever-present reminder to Cain’s conscience that he had disobeyed God. Cain was an evil and devilish sinner who clearly despised being reminded of his condition, as noted in 1 John 3:12. He abandoned his relationship with God through blatant disobedience and rejected his relationship with his brother.
Cain was obviously not interested in healthy relationships. He was completely devoid of a certain type of familial love known in the Greek as stergo. He lacked what the King James translators defined as “natural affection” in Romans 1:31. Cain discarded the natural love that God planted in the hearts of men to care for their own flesh and blood. This spirit of hatred and revenge has followed mankind ever since, and it will continue to flourish in these last days, as foretold in 2 Timothy 3:3.
The spirit of this evil age will culminate in the same conditions that existed in Noah’s day, when people were full of violence. Noah’s preaching fell on deaf ears and had no effect. This reality ought to alarm us. Today, the masses are inclined to offend saints while offering tolerance to sinners. The spirit of Cain is actively in the land.
Romans 1:28-31 describes people who, when left to themselves through reprobation, are capable of anything. Paul writes that because they did not see fit to acknowledge God, He gave them over to a depraved mind to do what is improper. They became filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, and evil. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice. This passage lists them as gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, and unmerciful. This description reads exactly like the daily newspaper.
A Reformation of Relationships
A stroll through the Old Testament reveals that the Gentiles were so wicked and violent that they were often a threat to the very existence of mankind. People committed unconscionable acts. The pagan idol worshippers at Tophet, for example, would beat drums as they threw their babies into sacrificial fires to drown out their screams. Similarly, pagans in North America bagged up their babies and offered them to false gods across many cultures.
Just a few miles from Ferguson, Missouri, where modern rioting and violence have broken out, sits Cahokia, where native peoples practiced human sacrifice similar to the Aztecs. Where do you suppose those demonic spirits went after those civilizations died off? As an aside, perhaps you wonder why there is so much bloodshed in Mexico among the drug wars today. Wonder no more, as the same demons who led men and women to human sacrifice are still active. At the end of the day, these spiritual forces are what we are dealing with.
This is why whole cultures had to be eliminated in the Old Testament. God simply could not allow that contagious and deplorable behavior to spread and fester until every man and woman became reprobate. These people had no trace of natural affection left in them.
Nevertheless, when Jesus came onto the scene, a whole new paradigm began to take root within society that changed the course of humanity. Had Jesus not come, we would have already destroyed ourselves, just like the pagans of Noah’s day. Violence would be the law of the land, and forgiveness would be a word of ancient folklore.
Jesus and His teachings turned the tide of evil and cast a different light on how we relate to one another. Even the Jews, who were the most godly of all peoples, had a lot to learn when it came to relationships. Cruelty in the ancient world was the norm, but mercy would redefine the standards of how we relate to one another.
Father Forgive Them for They Know Not What They Do
Never before had such a dichotomy of innocence and torture met on earth. Jesus, who personifies love and forgiveness, silenced tortuous revenge and hate when He cried out for His executioners’ forgiveness in Luke 23:34. In a figure, His blood speaks better things than that of Abel. Who had ever heard of such forgiveness prior to this?
So great was the influence of Jesus in those who received His Holy Spirit that men like Stephen would emulate this attitude. Stephen cried out for mercy for his killers during his stoning in Acts 7:60. Mercy was simply unheard of at that level, but the Spirit of Christ brought it to earth. This impact was so profound that over the centuries, countless people came to Christ as a direct consequence of the witness of these persecuted and dying saints.
The Teachings of Jesus
The teachings of Christ have had two thousand years to extract the devil’s cruelty from society. Wherever true Christianity prevails, mercy and grace are found. Jesus taught us to love one another and to love our enemies, as recorded in Luke 6:27. These were strange concepts in His day, and in many ways, they still are.
John the Revelator went so far as to say, “He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love” in 1 John 4:8. Love comes to us in four primary forms: eros (romantic passion), phileo (friendship), stergo (family), and agape (God’s sacrificial love).
The closest word we have for agape is compassion. Compassion is an undeserved love that results in tender mercy. That is precisely what we need in this world today. We need a world where retaliation is left to God alone and where justice is meted out in love.
We need society to embrace the message of mercy and reconciliation. We must return to the clear instruction of Jesus and show love to one another out of a pure heart fervently, as instructed in 1 Peter 1:22. We need to lay aside our corrupt hearts, prejudices, bitterness, and jealousies, and begin to influence the world with the person of Jesus Christ.
Angry Without a Cause
Some people cannot get along, and they do not even know why. If you ask them, they might say, “I just don’t like their looks!” Delving into the core of how these feelings develop is a mystery too great for us. However, one thing is certain: acting on these feelings and harboring them is unacceptable among the saints.
The Hatfields and McCoys long forgot why they were feuding, as have the Crips and the Bloods. Nevertheless, these types of feelings live on in this present evil world. They are even found in families, where bitterness boils just under the surface. This is highly dangerous.
People are filled with hate and do not even realize the danger they are in, as warned in Matthew 5:22. Being angry without a cause is an attitude that imperils the soul.
The Holy Spirit will expose ill feelings and challenge them as a first point in His dealings. Sinners must stop resisting the Holy Spirit when He reveals this behavior. If such behavior exists in a saint, it grieves Him, as stated in Ephesians 4:30. We must submit to the Holy Spirit’s dealings immediately. We cannot allow the sun to go down day after day on ill feelings until they become a permanent part of our personality, as we are cautioned in Ephesians 4:26.
Making Reconciliation
Some people wait until it is too late to try to make things right. They stand over the graves of friends and family teary-eyed, wishing they had said they were sorry or made an attempt to reconcile. Their grief is the sad reward for quenching the Spirit for years as He prompted them to make amends, reflecting the principle in Romans 1:27. Now they must live with those regrets.
Fortunately, it does not have to be that way. We can lay aside stubbornness and uproot the bitterness that poisons our souls and sours our spirit. We can make that call or send that letter; we can find a way to break the ice. No matter whose fault it was, it is the spiritual person who must move to restore the relationship, as instructed in Galatians 6:1. God will prepare hearts as we pray, and He will give us the courage. We are not guaranteed success, but we must make the effort.
Reconciliation is a very powerful thing. It is proof that God is at work in our lives. Anyone can stay angry and make excuses, but a true child of God will actively seek to reconcile broken relationships. We have to love one another. If it so happens that the other person will not cooperate, their blood is on their own head, provided we moved in unfeigned love and sincerity.
Some people are not rejecting us; they are actually rejecting God. God has used reconciliation to transform people’s relationship with Him, as He was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself. Could God say that of us? Can it be said that God was in you, reconciling the world to Himself?
Do we have a heart of compassion and love that wants to end strife and operate in Christian love? Can we lay aside the past? Can we put aside our emotions? Can we part with our record of wrongs? Can we heal some broken relationship and mend some fences?
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