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Matthew 16:5-12 – What Does A Guilty Conscience Do?
What does a guilty conscience do? While a plethora of answers would be possible – and both positive and negative – how about we focus on just one. But I must warn you…us, we might not like the answer.
What does a guilty conscience do? It causes us to misunderstand others by assigning false motives to what they say and do.
Matthew 16:5-7 – (5) And the disciples came to the other side of the sea, but they had forgotten to bring any bread. (6) And Jesus said to them, “Watch out and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” (7) They began to discuss this among themselves, saying, “He said that because we did not bring any bread.”
When we know we are in the wrong – like the apostles did; when we know we have made a mistake – you’ve been there, right; too often we look askew at others – sometimes innocently and innocuously and sometimes insidiously – and twist and turn their words and actions in ways they never meant.
Jesus was not castigating the apostles because they forgot bread. As He reminded, them, “Do you not yet understand or remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets full you picked up? (Matthew 16:9). Jesus got upset because their own hearts caused them to misunderstand something so simple. Misunderstanding others…assigning false motives…I am never guilty of that…are you?
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