When a Brother Has Something Against Us

So anxious is our Lord, then, that we should not disregard another’s resentment, that he does not accept our offerings if our brother has anything against us. That is, he does not allow us to offer him prayers until by speedy amends we remove from our brother’s mind the resentment he feels, whether rightly or wrongly. For he does not say, “If your brother has a true ground for complaint against you, leave your gift at the altar and go your way; first be reconciled to him.” He says, “If you remember that your brother has something against you.” That is, if there is anything, however trivial or small, that has roused your brother’s anger against you, and it comes back to your mind by a sudden recollection, you must know that you ought not to offer the spiritual gift of your prayers until by kindly amends you have removed from your brother’s heart the resentment, whatever its cause. [a]

If, then, the words of the Gospel bid us make amends to those who are angry over past and utterly trivial grounds of quarrel, ones that arose from the slightest causes, what will become of us wretches? With obstinate hypocrisy we disregard more recent grounds of offense, and those of the utmost importance, and due to our own faults. Puffed up with the devil’s own pride, and ashamed to humble ourselves, we deny that we are the cause of our brother’s resentment. In a spirit of rebellion we disdain to be subject to the Lord’s commands, and we argue that they never ought to be kept and never can be fulfilled. And so it comes about that, as we make up our minds that he has commanded things that are impossible and unsuitable, we become, to use the apostle’s expression, “not doers but judges of the law.”