Devotions Archive Archive: 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 Search Archive Print This Article Giving way Saturday, February 27, 2010 Matthew 5:43-47 Jesus say, "You're familiar with the old written law, 'Love your friend,' and its unwritten companion, 'Hate your enemy.' I'm challenging that. I'm telling you to love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer, for then you are working out of your true selves, your God-created selves. This is what God does. He gives his best--the sun to warm and the rain to nourish--to everyone, regardless: the good and bad, the nice and nasty. If all you do is love the lovable, do you expect a bonus? Anybody can do that. If you simply say hello to those who greet you, do you expect a medal?" In King James' translation the next verse reads, "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect." In the Message (quoted above), Eugene Peterson simply says, "Grow up." Now I know I'm part of God's family, so I should act like it. God's love extends without end into the lives of good and evil-doers alike. He does not distinguish, and neither should I. This principle might be familiar, but it stirs me up in my deepest parts. God wants every insult, every unfair word or act and even every injury to change nothing about my relationship with the bad guy. He might be bad, but God insists that I love him. And do this perfectly, Dave. You're my kid, you can do it! I am red, hot and angry. Get over it. I want to yell and scream and cuss. Don't open your mouth. The muscles in my arms are tense; I want to strike out. Turn around and look the other way. Jesus even asks me to give myself up to the attack. Don't move a muscle to protect yourself. If only a few of us act this way, the world changes. Gandhi and Martin Luther King are just the two most famous examples. But Jesus' focus is not the exponential social growth that results; he is concerned about me. He loves me. He wants me to live the way God made me to live. He knows that when I do, heaven will find me here on earth. Lord, you have prescribed the right way to live; and now you expect us to live it. Let my steps be steady, let me keep to the course you set. I never want to have regrets when I compare my life with your counsel. Thank you, Father, for speaking straight from your heart so I can learn the pattern of your righteous ways. --- Psalm 119, The Message "; Add      Edit    Delete