“Come to terms quickly with your adversary while you are on the way to court with him, or your adversary may hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison” (Matthew 5:25).
“It is ever so much easier to overcome a difficulty if you tackle it immediately, at its first appearance, than it will be after the trouble has had some little time to establish itself in your mentality …” —Emmet Fox
The role of perception is a recurring theme in all spiritual instruction. How you see things has more of an impact on your quality of life than the things themselves. Of course people misbehave and conditions go awry, but the chain of thought and emotion triggered by these is the thing that either empowers you or sends you careening down an experiential path that taints your experience with negativity.
Some, understanding the importance of the perceptions they hold, choose not to acknowledge undesirable conditions or questionable behavior from others. They choose instead to pretend these things do not exist. This is denial in the destructive sense of the word. We have the faculty of judgment and we have the ability to respond (response-ability) to the world around us. However, it is the state of mind from which we respond that is all important.
To “come to terms quickly with your adversary” is to catch your own perceptual responses before they get away from you. Did someone speak an unkind word to you? If so, are you building a case against them or are you grounded in the higher truth of your spiritual integrity? Do appearances of lack have you reeling in fear or are you affirming divine guidance and developing a constructive plan of action that will help you meet the challenge? Does your health depend on every word spoken by your doctor or do you know your limitless spiritual nature of wholeness?
The greatest adversary you will encounter is the perception that begins with a negative thought and cascades out of control.