How Far Away?

Something to think about.

How Far Away?

⁴⁴ But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
⁴⁵ That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. Matthew 5:44-45

 "That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven." Whoa, did you read the verse before this?  "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you." These are some very high standards.  Love your enemies. That is a mouthful not in words but in action. Christians are being persecuted killed and hated throughout the world.  Here is Jesus speaking to us today. It is almost as if this scripture was written with this date in mind. And He is telling us that we should love our enemies. Those that wish to cause us physical harm. Those that want to enslave and silence us. Those that want to banish us to a quiet room.  We are to love them. 

How far away are you from this kind of love? Personally, I don't think I am on the same field. I can barely acknowledge that I have enemies. That someone would actually want to cause me harm because I believe in Jesus. Not only do I have to accept this reality but I have to love them as well. I don't get to hate them. I don't have the right to retribution. I can't have justice? Before I love them. None of the things I thought I had a right to like revenge can I claim. I am told I must love them. 

Jesus is saying things that are counter normalcy. He is saying you must forgive your enemies. You say it does not say that. No, it doesn't, but you must forgive before you can love.  Is it normal to forgive your enemies those that have caused you harm? Is it normal to love those that hate you? Is it normal to do these things while you are in conflict with your enemies?  We are not given preconditions of when to love. Jesus does not say when they start to love you then love them. He does not say when, if, and after. He says love your enemies.   

I have not gotten past  " Love your enemies" so the rest of the verse is something to aspire to.  How far are you?

Leia Mais…

Love Your Enemies

Something to think about.

Love Your Enemies

⁴⁴ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, Matthew 5:44

This is one of those really difficult scriptures.  We usually read this type of scripture gloss over it and move on. This is without a doubt contrary to our nature. What we would have preferred Jesus to say was something like hate your enemies. Because that would have been consistent with our nature. Have you ever considered what would happen if God were to bless our enemies? God will not facilitate or be the provider of evil. In other words, the blessing of God must be consistent with His character. Which means one of two things must happen for your enemy to be blessed. Your enemies must repent and turn to God. Or it is you that are in the wrong, and you must repent to receive the blessing of God. God is not going to condone of facilitate the evil of your enemy. His grace would cause your enemy to turn from His wickedness. Loving your enemy exemplifies the love of Christ. Praying for them invokes the righteousness of God on their lives. Praying for your enemy opens the door for repentance and restoration in their lives. Which if they walk through, will inevitably lead to forgiveness and acceptance into Gods family. 

Leia Mais…