What if love isn’t about comfort at all—but about telling the truth even when it hurts? We open Matthew 5 and face a hard instruction: don’t bring your gift until you reconcile with your brother. That single command reframes worship, conflict, and community, pushing us past performative peace into honest, sometimes awkward, conversations that heal. Along the way we take aim at easy shortcuts—burning letters, vague “forgiveness,” and silent distancing—that feel spiritual but avoid the one thin...