Old Baggage

Old Baggage                 Return to Main Menu



Matthew 5:22-24
22 But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment; and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, "You fool,' you will be liable to the hell of fire. 23 So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift.

We all like to keep stuff.  We move, we pack, and some of it goes in the attic.  Years later it is still there and we do not want to let go.  It does us no good yet we keep it knowing it would be fuel for a fire.  The problem is, we pack emotional baggage in our memory attic knowing it is not good for us and not realizing it too can become fuel for a fire.  What is worse, this old memory baggage can be about people we love that we chose to have close to us.

Jesus tell us that we must be reconciled to people around us, especially when we have been the person wronged.  Being the person wronged can lead to resentment.  From the scripture passage and for our time, among others, our gifts to God are our prayers.  For our prayers to be fully authentic, we must not harbor resentment of another.  No matter how hard we try to bury resentment, it can and will often rise to the surface in the heat of an argument and when we least expect it.  Just when a fire reaching the critical point of superheated air, it will explode, likewise explosive words can crash our conversations when we least expect it.

If we believe sacred the words of our Lord Jesus, then if we are not reconciled to those around us we can easily slide ourselves into sinful behavior.  When harboring sinful baggage, in time it comes to hurt us far more that it hurts those around us.  We must live in Christ’s teachings to live in God's will.  For your prayers to be more authentic, reconcile and clean out your attic.

Thanks be to God
lonnie



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Publications 4