Ye have heard. … But I say unto you. — Matt 5:21-22
Christ read new meanings into the commandments.
Anybody would say it is wrong to murder another. If that is all the commandment forbids, not many people break it. But it is a great deal harder to keep, as Jesus explained it. He said that if we are angry with another, or if we speak with contempt of another, we have broken the commandment. If, when we are praying, we remember that we have injured another, we go away at once and set things right, before we go on with our prayer.
All contentions are bad, and if we are in the wrong we can only be worsted by keeping up the strife. Bad thoughts are sins, as well as bad acts. We need to keep a watch upon our hearts, where desires and feelings are born.
A good many people think they have a right to pay back the injuries they receive. But that is not Christ’s way. His law of love bids us return good for evil. The way we are to treat enemies is to love and pray for them.