Scripture: "If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Matt 18:15-17
Reflection: If your brother sins against you: Who is a brother? Since Matthew is a writing to a Christian audience, the brother in Matthew is that someone who is in the faith and his baptized in Christ into the Community, which is the Church. The subsequent instructions confirm this interpretation. Christian love demands a pro-active love at the ordinary level. “If your brother sins against you, then the instructions follow; 1st, 2nd, 3rd...”
One key attitude that is required is a forgiving heart which approaches a brother not so much to condemn but to correct and seek a change in the attitude of a brother. If he LISTENS, then fine, if he doesn’t listen then, the next step and then the next. O yes! If a person does not listen to instructions which are sound, doctrine which are correct and morals which are perfect then he cannot be called a Christian even otherwise.
Prayer: Lord, grant me the grace to forgive before I seek to confront my brother or sister.
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