Matthew 5 43-48
Love Your Enemies
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers,[a] what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48 You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Good morning everybody! We continue today with the Love Like Jesus reflection. We talk about loving and praying for our enemies. It's obviously a very hard thing to do. Why would I pray for someone who has wronged me? I ask though, have you ever wronged someone? When Jesus says the sun rises on the evil and the gold, and sends rain for the just and unjust it reminds me, we are all sinners in this world. The only one that remained a perfect life was Jesus. This also means to me that I am not perfect in praying for my enemies and offering my forgiveness, only Jesus is. In our world today, especially whether it be politics, news, teachings in the public school, there is always pointing fingers and tossing the blame game. I wonder what the world would look like if instead of trying to talk shade about people and their actions we chose to pray for hearts instead? What would life look like if people on CNN or another news outlet would open their show by praying for the leaders of our country instead of talking all the bad? What would it look like if we prayed for the mother's going to get an abortion instead of telling them with a finger in their face that they are wrong? Have you ever passed by a homeless person quick to judge instead of praying for that person's life? I ask today that instead of choosing gossip or slander on someone, you pray for them.
留言