43 'You have heard how it was said, You will love your neighbour and hate your enemy.
44 But I say this to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you;
45 so that you may be children of your Father in heaven, for he causes his sun to rise on the bad as well as the good, and sends down rain to fall on the upright and the wicked alike.'
MATTHEW 5: 43-45
Yup, this is the day: the day when God has to come and make us all feel bad and uncomfortable because He's asking us to love our enemies.
Oh, God, why? Don't you see that's basically impossible. I mean... they are our enemies for a reason... or are they? Think about the people you consider enemies, or the people you really don't like... or even hate...
Why don't you like them? Why do you hate them? Did they hurt you? What did they do to you?
Sometimes, when you think about it, you don't have a good reason. BUT, if you do, think about this: if you hate them because they have been bad to you, how does hating them make you any better than them? AND, like we said yesterday: that hatred... who is it hurting? Them or you?
I know, I know... you're probably asking: "well, Cris, do you love your enemies!??!?!?!" And I will tell you: no, I do not. I fail daily at it. I have to remember myself constantly that God loves these people as much as He loves me. I have to ask God to help me see His face in these people so that I can at least feel like loving them. But you know, when you pray like that, suddenly you start noticing you have a lot less enemies than you used to... somehow I find myself being less conflicting than before, when I used to go around hating on people (yeah, being a big hater is right up my alley, but I trust God is gradually making improvements).
But you and I , we're friends right? So I pray for you to love your enemies, and you pray for me to love my enemies, ok? We got each other, ok? Okay.
The whole loving your enemies thing distinguishes us from the world--so we need to do it proudly! Because, when Jesus was being nailed--NAILED--on a cross for our sins, he didn't have a single resentful, bitter, unforgiving thought for those men. He forgave them. Now, unless you've actually been crucified, I don't see how the offenses people have done to us are greater and harder to forgive than being nailed to a cross, naked, bruised, and bleeding.
Hey, listen, I love you! God loves you. God IS love. So let Love do His work. If you abide in His love, you will be able to love a lot easier!
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