1. Read Matthew 5.23-24 incarnationally. Where do you find yourself in this text?
2. Of all the Hard Sayings of Jesus, which is most difficult for you to live out? Why?
3. How do you see this text and Matthew 5.43-48 work together?
4. What’s the desire of Jesus in calling for us to love our enemies, and engaging those who we may hurt?
5. Bertrand Russell said the teaching of Jesus is “too difficult for most of us to practice.” If someone said the teaching of Matthew 5.23-24 is too difficult how would you respond? How have you practiced this Truth in your own life?
6. How does believing and practicing these Hard Sayings inform the process of transformation?
7. Dallas Willard says, “He does not call us to do what He did, but to be as He was, permeated with love.” How does this statement encourage you to move away from behavior management? What’s an area in your life where you are experiencing this kind of change?
8. Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote, “Nothing can be more cruel than the leniency which abandons others to their sin. Nothing can be more compassionate than the severe reprimand which calls another Christian in one’s community back from the path of sin.” Describe a time when you compassionately “reprimanded” another? What was the outcome?
9. Read Matthew 5.21-22. What’s the primary point of this teaching? John Piper says, “despising your brother threatens to cut you off from God forever?” Is Piper correct? If so what’s the implication of this truth?
10. When was the last time you were hurt by a brother or sister in the Body of Christ? How did reconciliation happen? How did that situation bring about deeper transformation in you?
11. When was the last time you hurt another brother or sister in the Body of Christ? How did reconciliation happen? How did that situation bring about deeper transformation in you?
12. The temptation is to never fully engage these areas of conflict. In so doing, we live with open wounds and cannot grow. How important is following Jesus’ will and His way in this area of life? What’s the greatest challenge in doing this?
13. Read Ephesians 4.26-27. How is this teaching a part of your everyday, ordinary life? Give a specific example from your life of “giving the devil a foothold.”
14. Jesus gives us order in purpose. He says “Go and then come.” This may seem counter-intuitive. Yet the order here is imperative. Why is the order so important in honoring God with our relationships and our worship?
15. Read Romans 12.18. Is it possible to live at “peace with everyone?” What do we do we people who refuse to live at peace with us? How far do we take this teaching?
16. Oswald Chambers in My Utmost for His Highest summarizes this process. Read, reflect and respond.
“First be reconciled to your brother….” Our Lord’s directive is simple— “First be reconciled….” He says, in effect, “Go back the way you came— the way indicated to you by the conviction given to you at the altar; have an attitude in your mind and soul toward the person who has something against you that makes reconciliation as natural as breathing.” Jesus does not mention the other person— He says for you to go. It is not a matter of your rights. The true mark of the saint is that he can waive his own rights and obey the Lord Jesus.
“…and then come and offer your gift.” The process of reconciliation is clearly marked. First, we have the heroic spirit of self-sacrifice, then the sudden restraint by the sensitivity of the Holy Spirit, and then we are stopped at the point of our conviction. This is followed by obedience to the Word of God, which builds an attitude or state of mind that places no blame on the one with whom you have been in the wrong. And, finally, there is the glad, simple, unhindered offering of your gift to God.”
17. Read Matthew 18.15-17. Jesus gives us a clear pathway in how practically to pursue reconciliation. Describe a time when you participated in this kind of reconciliation. What as the outcome?
18. The Psalmist writes,
“Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.
Psalm 139.23-24
Spend a few moments in prayer. Allow the Spirit to bring to mind anyone that may have a grudge against you. Allow the Spirit to bring to mind an enemy that you may not be loving. Pray through the following prompts if helpful.
Prayer:
Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
I surrender myself to You.
I surrender my desire for security and survival.
I surrender my desire for approval and affection.
I surrender my desire for power and control.
I surrender my desire to change (any situation, person, event, feeling, or emotion).
I pray not for what I want, but for what You know I need.
I pray for courage to follow You as You lead me in the everlasting way.
May it begin in me. Right here, Jesus. Right now, Jesus.
[area]
