Daily Devotional

Here is where the sermon becomes deeply practical and surprisingly uncomfortable. Jesus does not say, “If you have something against your brother, go sort it out.” He says, “If your brother has something against you, go.” The direction matters enormously. Jesus is not just telling us to manage our own grievances. He is pressing us to take responsibility for the ways we have broken peace in the body of Christ, even when going first costs us our pride.

The urgency of the image is striking. You are at the altar. You are in the middle of an act of worship. The gift is in your hands. And in that moment, the Holy Spirit brings to mind someone who has a legitimate grievance against you. Jesus says: stop. Leave the gift. Go. Blomberg notes that the phrase “something against you” likely implies a just claim, a real issue, not mere hypersensitivity. Jesus is not calling us to chase down every imagined offense. He is calling us to take responsibility for real sin, real harm, real fractures.

The implication for how we approach worship is sobering. Reconciliation in the kingdom community is not a nice addition to worship. It is a prerequisite. Unresolved sin in the body disrupts worship. Not because God cannot hear us through our mess, but because outward devotion that is unaccompanied by obedience is not the worship God is after. He wants a people who love him and love each other, and you cannot separate the two.

What does obedience look like in practice? It means owning sin without the word “but.” It means refusing to minimize the harm you caused. It means moving toward the person, not away from them. It means seeking reconciliation even when it costs you your pride, even when the conversation is awkward, even when you might be rejected. It means going first because that is what Jesus did for you.