Matthew 5:26

Verify I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou have paid the last farthing.

As a matter of practical, everyday living, the teaching of Christ in this place is indeed light and wisdom. There are countless examples of human conflict ending in the most tragic results which could have been avoided altogether by the application of Christ's teaching.

Illustration: In a certain city of the Southwest, two men owned adjoining houses in an attractive subdivision, and the driveways were adjacent with a small strip of turf, about a foot wide, between the driveways. They quarreled over this trifling strip. One planted onions in it; the other pulled them up and set out tomatoes! After many words, each stepped to the back door of his residence, took a shotgun, stepped out on the back steps, and shot the other dead while their respective families were at church!

To "pay the last farthing" refers to reaping the last and bitterest fruit of a failure to handle problems in the manner here laid down by Christ.