This is a question often used to to justify not asking for forgiveness from someone we’ve offended.

It’s never easy to swallow our pride, humble ourselves, admit we were wrong and ask for forgiveness. But what Jesus taught in Matthew 5:23-26 was that we need to leave our sacrifice at the altar and go and seek forgiveness when we’ve offended someone. This is why we celebrate the Lord’s supper regularly and why I’m a fan of celebrating communion every time we gather as the Body of Christ. It allows us the opportunity, and reminds us to judge the body rightly. We allow the Holy Spirit to examine our hearts in regards to our relationships and we make sure we remain in right relationship with the Son by ensuring we’re in right relationship with members of His bride.

But what happens when we try to make amends and the one we’ve offended doesn’t choose to forgive us?

Remember what I said about Rabbi Paul? Here’s where his teaching comes in. Once you sincerely seek forgiveness, you are free-whether the other person forgives you or not.  Paul wrote in Romans 12:18:

Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone. ?(NLT)

So once you’ve sincerely sought forgiveness, you are free. So be sure to do what Jesus said in Matthew 5:24:

…leave your sacrifice there at the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person. Then come and offer your sacrifice to God. (NLT)

Asking forgiveness from someone we’ve wronged can be a very difficult thing to do. But now that you know the truth, remember the whole truth – God has not only told you to do it, He’ll empower you to do it. It may be good to discuss these thoughts with your pastor if you need some support in doing what the Bible instructs  you.

We’re praying for you.

We are fallen people living in a fallen world. That’s not an excuse. We need to become more and more and more like Jesus. But there may be times when we have sinned against someone else and we need to make it right.

The rabbis taught that the sin against someone else was heavier than the sin against God, because God would always forgive, but someone else may not.

They didn’t have the book of Romans, so Rabbi Paul had a different point of view we follow, but more about that in a couple days.  Jesus gave us a pattern to follow in Matthew 5:23-26

“So if you are presenting a sacrifice at the altar in the Temple and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, leave your sacrifice there at the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person. Then come and offer your sacrifice to God. When you are on the way to court with your adversary, settle your differences quickly. Otherwise, your accuser may hand you over to the judge, who will hand you over to an officer, and you will be thrown into prison. And if that happens, you surely won’t be free again until you have paid the last penny. (NLT)

There are a couple of things I’ll point out right away. It’s the one bringing the sacrifice that remembers someone has something against him or her. It’s the Holy Spirit that brings it to their mind. It’s the Spirit’s job to convict sin, not any of ours. Jesus Christ didn’t come into the world to condemn it, so how can we condemn a fellow believer (or the world for that matter)?

Secondly, when the Spirit brings revelation that someone has something against you, you go to them. Don’t wait for them to come to you. in the next post I’ll outline how you should approach them. Today I’ll pray the Spirit empowers you to obey the Father’s will for you.