It is Good to Sing Thy Praises
Rock of Ages
Christ, Whose Glory Fills the Skies
Spirit of God Descent Upon my Heart
If Thou But Suffer God to Guide Thee
All the Way My Saviour Leads Me
Song 502:4 Unto God Almighty
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 his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell 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.
We should want to be rid of it because Jesus Christ told us to be rid of it.
Jesus is refining the law...helping people to correctly understand it. We are not to love our neighbour and hate your enemies. We are to love others period. It is not about murder...it's about the emotions behind the act. The physical act of murder grows out of something just as wrong.
People do not murder at random.....whether its one person or many....the anger and hatred is still there.
Justified or not....the anger and hatred are still condemned by God.
God calls us to behave and think better.
He wants us to think beyond ourselves....as anger and hatred is caused by not getting our own way.
Anger for the sake of others....this is what Jesus did. Our anger is often so petty.
We need to be slow to anger and quick to forgive. This is what God calls us to. We need to be mindful of our attitudes toward others.
No name calling, no degradation of others, no mistreatment, no putting each other down, no insults...do not kill each other with your words. Doing such is breaking the command to not murder.
We should always seek to be reconciled to them. Make things right before you go to worship God. Do this quickly...friend or foe.....seek to make things right. Even if you are going to court...try to make it right. Take that first step to make it right.
Doing this is far beyond our ability. We need God to help us. We need to keep trying, but we need the Spirit of God to help us. He will. It is a sign of how spiritually poor we are....we see our very need for God.
And so this Spirit of God dwells within and helps us to live more the way he wants us to. Let us see our poverty of spirit and turn to God in trust.