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MAKING AMENDS  

 "So if you are standing before the altar in the Temple , offering a sacrifice to God, and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, leave your sacrifice there beside the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person. Then come and offer your sacrifice to God.  – Matthew 5:23-24 (NLT)

      It is hard to have a right relationship with God when our relationship with our friend is strained. Jesus points out the necessity of making things right, of going out of our way to see that the tension is removed from the situation. The responsibility for reconciliation is placed on the person the grudge is held against, not the one with the chip on his or her shoulder. No comment is made about the guilt or innocence of the persons involved, just the need to make amends.

      The more spiritually mature a person becomes, the more likely he or she will be the one offering the olive branch, regardless of personal guilt or innocence. The issue is one of forgiveness, not of finding fault. When we have the mind of Christ we train ourselves to value the relationship more than we value the need to be right in every situation. Only when that takes place are we ready to worship God.