| “But I (Jesus) say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,” – Luke 6:27 |
|---|
| A VERY DIFFERENT RESPONSE As Jesus teaches about relationships, He gives one of the most “on the contrary” responses we will learn. Instead of returning hatred toward those who hate you – hate even to the point of being an enemy – we are called to show love, showing love with tangible actions. This is a very different response as we don’t look to do good to those who do bad things to us. Those who hurt us should be hurt back. Our thinking is we don’t get mad we get even. But as a believer seeking to follow and obey the teachings of Christ our response to those who hurt us and hate us is to go through the filter of Luke 6:27 and we now respond to hate with love and meanness with kindness. At this point, you might be ready to say, “You have to be kidding.” You might even go so far as to say this is totally ridiculous. You are probably replying inwardly that “If someone hurts me, I am going to hurt them back. If they hate me, I am going to hate them back.” Yet as we listen and learn from Jesus we learn He wants us to treat our enemies very DIFFERENTLY than they are treating us. As believers, the EXPECTED RESPONSE is DOING GOOD to those who are DOING EVIL to us. Going a little deeper, the Apostle Paul would later write in Romans 12:21 “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with GOOD (doing them good).” Verse 21 is the conclusion to his teaching which is definitely a very different response to those doing us harm. Romans 12:17 says, “Repay no one evil for evil but give thought to DO what is honorable in the sight of all.” Romans 12:20 says, “To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink;” As believers, the EXPECTED RESPONSE is DOING GOOD to those who are DOING EVIL to us. So, our verse for 6/27 from Luke 6:27 which says, “But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,” calls us to RESPOND VERY DIFFERENTLY. Challenging? You better believe it! But then, living differently always is. Verse to DATE the Word on June 27 (6/27) is Luke 6:27. Luke 6:27 says, “But I (Jesus) say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,” Please remember that the time a person needs love the most is when they deserve it the least. Continue Strong putting into practice the teachings of Christ, And remember to DATE the Word |