Matthew 5:23-26
[23] So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, [24] leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. [25] Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. [26] Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.
Head: How does this passage connect our worship with our treatment of fellow Christian brothers and sisters?
Heart: If you found out that you had wronged someone, are you willing to humble yourself to apologize and make things right?
Hands: How can you worship God outside of Sunday worship?
Do you know of anyone who has a complaint against you because you have wronged them? This may include hurtful words spoken or unfair treatment given. When the passage says "[if] your brother having something against you", this is referring to anything that you may owe someone. This may be a debt or payment owed, an obligation that you have not fulfilled, or even an apology given for an offense.
God is saying that worship involves all areas of life. This life of worship is especially expressed in how we treat fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. So if we are knowing treating people unfairly or badly, and if we are unrepentant over these things, then our Sunday worship is just meaningless lip service to God, while our hearts are living apart from Him. Basically, our horizontal relationships are tied together with our vertical worship.
So God is challenging us here to take seriously our relationships with fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, because these are very important to him. We may not treat each other perfectly, so when we do wrong someone, we are to make things right with them and also to humbly repent to God over them. Then we will grow in faith, we will grow in healthy relationships in God's family, and we will grow in a worshiping heart.
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Devotional Guide:
1) Pray for understanding in your mind, for trust in your heart, and for powerful obedience in your daily living.
2) Read the passage and mark anything that blesses you, challenges you, or raises a question.
3) Reflect on the passage. What's God saying about Himself? What's God saying about you?
4) Pray in response to what God puts on your heart through the Word.