“Make friends quickly with your opponent at law while you are with him on the way, so that your opponent may not hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and you be thrown into prison. “Truly I say to you, you will not come out of there until you have paid up the last cent.” Matthew 5:23-26.
Our relationships with others is most important. “And he answered, ” YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND; AND YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.” Luke 10:27
At first thought, we may wrongly think a religious exercise is more important than our relationship with our Christian brother. We can even use the prior verse of Luke 10:27 to justify such preference. After all, we are worshipping God which is more important than getting along with our Christian brother. But, Jesus makes it clear in the Matthew 5:23-26 passage where our first duty lies.
Similarly, remember the story of the Good Samaritan. We could wrongly think that the religious exercises of the priest and the Levite were most important, but we know that it was only the Good Samaritan who was praised as the one whom we should imitate. “Jesus replied and said, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among robbers, and they stripped him and beat him, and went away leaving him half dead. “And by chance a priest was going down on that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. “Likewise a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. “But a Samaritan, who was on a journey, came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion, and came to him and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them; and he put him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn and took care of him. “On the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I return I will repay you.’ “Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers’ hands?” And he said, “The one who showed mercy toward him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do the same.” Luke 10:31-36.
- 1 John 3:10
By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother.
1 John 3:9-11 (in Context) 1 John 3 (Whole Chapter) - 1 John 3:17
But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?
1 John 3:16-18 (in Context) 1 John 3 (Whole Chapter) - 1 John 4:20
If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.
1 John 4:19-21 (in Context) 1 John 4 (Whole Chapter) - 1 John 4:21
And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.
We also need to recognize the special relationship that we have with our Christian brothers and sisters. Matthew 5:23 above does recognize this special relationship that we have with our brothers. “So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith.” Galatians 6:10 (Emphasis added.)
Finally, as an attorney, I can confirm the great value of the general advice of Jesus to “Make friends quickly with your opponent at law”. Whether it be a criminal case or a civil case, settlement should be vigorously pursued. I do not think this Scripture commands us to accept a settlement no matter what the terms are. There are exceptions to this general advice. However, it is good general advice to try to settle all court cases, particularly criminal cases where one can often obtain no prison time or much less prison time than if no settlement is reached.
Reformed Doctrine Daily Devotions 