You shall not murder

For the last few weeks, Pastors Dave and Chris have been teaching on "God's loving instruction brings freedom to His children"--the Ten Commandments.  They're going through the commandments backwards.  A couple of weeks ago, Dave preached on "You shall not bear false witness."  He talked about the truth and what we perceive as truth, and that when we proclaim our perceptions as truth, then we are bearing false witness.  For example, "Jim" is late for work.  "Beth" grumbles about how lazy Jim is and how he is always late.  Their boss "Steve" talks with Jim later in the day and discovers that Jim had a flat tire on the way to work, and that is why he was late.  The TRUTH in the situation is that Jim was late for work.  The PERCEPTION is that Beth said Jim was lazy.  Beth bore false witness toward Jim when she said that he was lazy.
So, anyway, back to my story.  As Dave preached a couple of weeks ago, I knew that I had been bearing false witness against another pastor.  The TRUTH of this situation is that we disagree on several issues.  The PERCEPTION I had been (ugh!) slandering was that he personally attacked me and couldn't care less about it.  The TRUTH was I had allowed my perceived hurts to grow into anger, resentment, and bitterness.  I knew then I needed to go and make amends...and didn't do it.
Fast forward to yesterday.  Chris preached on "you shall not murder."  An easy one, right?  Not when we look at Christ's definition of murder.  "You have heard that is was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.' But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, 'You fool!' will be liable to the hell of fire.  So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go.  First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift." (Matthew 5:21-24, ESV, emphasis mine)  OUCH!  I knew that I had to go to this pastor, confess, and reconcile.  I had thought, well, I can lay out my complaints and tell him why I felt this way.  But, then I realized that if I were to truly let it go, those things didn't matter.  What truly mattered was going to him, telling him what I need forgiveness for (anger, bitterness, slander), and then receiving forgiveness from him (if he offered it, which he did) and from God.  So I did, and I was able to worship with that body of believers with a clean heart for the first time in over a year.
"God's loving intstruction brings freedom to His children."  What is weighing you down?  In what areas are you bound by sin?  Allow God to teach you His truth, then act on it.  That, my friends, brings freedom.