Matthew 5:20-26
Jesus said to his disciples: "I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter into the Kingdom of heaven.
"You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment. But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment, and whoever says to his brother, Raqa, will be answerable to the Sanhedrin, and whoever says, 'You fool,' will be liable to fiery Gehenna. Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Settle with your opponent quickly while on the way to court. Otherwise your opponent will hand you over to the judge, and the judge will hand you over to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. Amen, I say to you, you will not be released until you have paid the last penny."
Dawg's thought:
Today's prayer intention is for the continued purification of our souls during this season of Lent.
As I look around me, it often times that the peace that everyone is striving for being allowed to do whatever we please. I grew up with that relativism mentality of "personal" morality. It's the mentality that has allowed so many things that are intrinsically "evil" to creep into our society as acceptable.
Reading through today's reading, I realized that this is more the peace that God wants for us. We should know what is God's ways, and how we offend Him and offend our neighbor when we sin. We should strive to seek forgiveness for our sins so that we can receive the grace that we need. We should call others to live up to their dignity as children of God.
Recently, I responded to a client I used to work with over a situation where all parties felt cheated. It was amazing the peace I felt when I offered my apology, and when it was reciprocated, I realized how great God's ways are.
This day, let your heart embrace the ways of God. I pray it challenges you and calls you to pursue the greatness you were made for. Take care and God Bless.
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