PRAYER and the Necessity of Forgiveness!
PRAYER and the Necessity of Forgiveness: Matthew 5:22-26
New American Standard Bible
22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be answerable to the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘[a] You good-for-nothing,’ shall be answerable to [b] the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the [c] fiery hell. 23 Therefore, if you are presenting your [d] offering at the altar, and there you remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your [e] offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your [f] offering. 25 [g ]Come to good terms with your accuser quickly, while you are with him on the way to court, so that your accuser will not hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and you will not be thrown into prison. 26 Truly I say to you, you will not come out of there until you have paid up the last [h] quadrans.
Footnotes
Matthew 5:22 Or You empty-head; Gr Raka (Raca) from Aramaic reqa
Matthew 5:22 Lit the Sanhedrin; i.e., Jewish High Court
Matthew 5:22 Lit Gehenna of fire
Matthew 5:23 Or gift
Matthew 5:24 Or gift
Matthew 5:24 Or gift
Matthew 5:25 I.e., settle the case
Matthew 5:26 A small Roman copper coin, worth about 1/64 of a laborer’s daily wage. Matthew 6:12-15
New American Standard Bible
12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from [a] evil.[b] ’14 For if you forgive other people for their [c] offenses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive other people, then your Father will not forgive your [d] offenses.
Footnotes
Matthew 6:13 Or the evil one
Matthew 6:13 Late mss add For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen
Matthew 6:14 Or wrongdoings
Matthew 6:15 Or wrongdoings. Most bible scholars believe that Jesus took only 15 minutes or so to do 'the sermon on the mount.' One would do well to read and meditate on all the words and actions of Jesus, because He only said and did what the Father to Him to. Thank God for the blessings of what Hebrews calls "the new and better covenant," because the old covenant only covered your sins for a year, when the new covenant completely takes them away, casts them into the sea of forgetfulness, never to be brought up again, but do we extend the same level of forgiveness to others, as God has forgiven us? Since January, we have been praying 'the LORD's Prayer,' out of Matthew 6:5-13 & Luke 11:1-4, which states, 'forgive us our debts, as we forgive those indebted to us' or 'forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us,' with a strict warning here, 'if you do not forgive other people, then your Father will not forgive your offenses!' Do you remember when you first heard Jesus say to you, "Your sins are forgiven?" How much more so should we give others the same level of grace that God has given us? All of the above falls into the category of, 'do unto others, just as you would have them do unto you!' Think about the height, depth, width and length of God's Love towards you, ask Him to fill you with His Holy Spirit, so that your cup overflows with His Presence and like, Jesus, Paul and others, pour yourself out, as a drink offering to others, with the Love of God, the Good News of Jesus and His complete and total forgiveness. We all have the ministry of reconciliation and are called to Love God, our neighbor, as ourselves, our enemies and to Love one another, just as Jesus Loves us! Invite others to Church on Sunday or ask them to watch online, have them connect with us @Circle
and continue to pray for His Kingdom to come and His Will to be done, along with millions of people worldwide, each and every day.
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