Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore, let us go forth to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. For we have no continuing city here, but we seek one to come.
Select a thought to read by choosing a collection, the month, and then the day:
"If thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy
brother hath ought against thee, leave there thy gift before the altar, and go
thy way. First be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift."
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Jesus, in Matthew 5:23-24
Jesus' phrase, "having ought against someone" means that a wrong has really been done. It refers to that sense of injustice that is created by God in the breast of a person who has been wronged. And that God-given feeling of injustice will never leave the heart until justice has been served. We can repent and make things right with the wounded brother, and God will remove that feeling from his breast. Or we can refuse to repent and suffer our Father's displeasure. The feeling of injustice can be removed that way, too, when our wronged brother sees the chastening hand of God upon us.
David knew this. A famine had plagued the nation of Israel, and David learned that God was chastising Israel because King Saul had wronged some heathen, the Gibeonites, who lived there in the land. David then had those abused people brought to him, and he asked them please to tell him what it would take for that burning sense of injustice to be removed from their hearts so that they would no longer cry out to God against Israel. They told David what they wanted; he did it; their sense of injustice was removed by God; they began to pray for Israel; and God sent rains again to the land. Those Gibeonites "had ought" against Israel. Saul really had done wrong to them, and God did not want Israel to worship Him until it was made right.
It is not good for those we wrong to see us shouting and singing praises to God. Such a spectacle makes them less likely to repent than more likely. It can, in fact, turn their hearts against God, if they think He approves of your misdeeds. It is only when men see our good deeds that they think well of our God.
Do not ever humble yourself before someone just because that person claims you have done wrong. Trying to repent of a wrong you have not done produces confusion on every side. The Bible warns the upright not to "fall down before the wicked" (Prov. 25:26). I have watched immature saints struggle, sometimes for years, trying to make something right that they never made wrong. They wanted peace, but as long as the evil-hearted people around them knew they can manipulate those saints by accusing them of evildoing, they always found a way to make them feel guilty and make them crawl back to their footstools again. If you find that you have done wrong to someone, just say so, and make it right and then come back to the altar and worship your God with joy. But if you have not done wrong, don't ever allow any unclean spirit to make you its servant with false accusations.
It will happen that along the way, you go to a wronged brother and sincerely repent for what you did, but he refuses to forgive you. That is evil on his part, not yours. He has now wronged you! In such cases, you are still free to return to the altar, take up your gift, and worship God with joy. We are God's servants, not man's.
Finally, please notice that Jesus said to leave your gift at the altar only if it comes to mind at God's altar that you have done wrong, not if somebody just says so. If God brings it to your attention that you need to go visit a brother and make something right, then do it quickly. If a person tells you that you have done a wrong, move slowly. Take that to God. If he agrees with that accuser, then quickly make it right. If He does not agree, feel free to shout His praises to the highest heavens, even if the accuser stands in a corner, staring at you with a frown. In all things, we live by God's word, not by man's.