This essay continues a sequence. Read the previous one here.
Agree with thine adversary quickly,
–KJV, Matt 5:25-26
whiles thou art in the way with him;
lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge,
and the judge deliver thee to the officer,
and thou be cast into prison.
Verily I say unto thee,
Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing.
A big step towards spiritual maturity is the realisation of how self-unaware one actually is…
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The earlier essays in this series have focused on how we “sow seed” by way of thoughts, words, and actions.
The Words of Christ quoted above prompt us to turn our minds to the reaping of the finished product.
No Man Is An Island
If a family member is experiencing an illness as pain, other family members are experiencing the same illness as sorrow.
If a thief experiences “success”, then the owner of the stolen property is experiencing “loss”.
Decisions made by a national leader based on his personal experiences will result in diverse experiences for millions of his countrymen. And so on.
So we are all contributing to and witnessing a joint global experiencing, and the Infinite Wisdom and Love contained in God’s Living Laws so guides the affairs of men that each one reaps what he has sown, and experiences what he needs for his spiritual development, within this unified experience.
Winning The Battle, Losing The War
Clearly, it is easier to handle a weed when it is small than when it has become deeply rooted and established. This is what Matt 5:25 is alluding to.
Agree with thine adversary quickly,
whiles thou art in the way with him;
Our sense of “right” is imperfect and selfish. So there are always three perspectives to any conflict: our (imperfect) perspective, the other’s (probably imperfect) perspective, and the perspective of The Word – Truth.
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We should put aside our “own” perspective and seek a perspective that aligns with The Word. Such a perspective will always contain love and selflessness; it will allow us to see the bigger picture.
If we attain this perspective, it will be easier to agree with our adversary quickly.
This “agreeing” does not mean wholesale acceptance of the demands of the other. That would be weakness or indolence, and we have already established that love is not weak or yielding (ref. “Real Love Is Tough Love“).
It means conducting ourselves with the awareness of our own imperfections. Such a mindset leads to greater open-mindedness and flexibility. This naturally makes us seek out peace and harmony in the midst of conflict i.e. we become peacemakers.
Blessed are the peacemakers:
for they shall be called the children of God.
— Matt 5:9
This may not be possible with every “adversary”, but we must make it our goal, as demanded by The Word.
Are We Ever Blameless?
The fact that we are imperfect means that we have contributed to a greater or lesser degree to almost every situation of conflict we encounter. Therefore, failure to seek “agreement” puts us in danger of sowing the seeds and reaping the fruits of injustice, stubbornness, or selfishness.
To practicalize agreeing with thine adversary quickly is to develop many valuable qualities.
- We must generally become less selfish.
- We must develop self-control, in order to control our emotions so as to manage the situation with spiritual maturity.
- We must develop patience, in order to put in the time and effort to arrive at a mutually acceptable agreement or compromise with the adversary.
- We must become better listeners, in order to understand our adversary’s viewpoint.
- Above all we must develop faith in The Word, Whose Power can help us in any situation as long as we have acted in alignment with It.
In the next essay we deal with the implications of failing to agree with our adversary quickly from the perspective of sowing and reaping.
Today’s Resolution:
- We shall strive to keep the “bigger picture” of The Word in mind in all our dealings, so that we can always be perfectly fair to our fellow-men.
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