Matthew 5:42-48 ERV; “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’  But I tell you, love your enemies. Pray for those who treat you badly.  If you do this, you will be children who are truly like your Father in heaven. He lets the sun rise for all people, whether they are good or bad. He sends rain to those who do right and to those who do wrong. If you love only those who love you, why should you get a reward for that? Even the tax collectors do that.  And if you are nice only to your friends, you are no better than anyone else. Even the people who don’t know God are nice to their friends.  What I am saying is that you must be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.”

Can we just stop with the ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy’ part? Because it’s HARD to love your enemy! It’s HARD to listen to people go off on you or accuse you falsely. It’s VERY HARD! It happens and you know it happens, often behind your back but there are times when they’re bold enough to say it to your face. To respond in love, well now, that really determines how much like your Father you really are. If our response is what gives the read on our love gage, what would yours read?

I think that the enemy is always trying to set us up, then accuse us when we respond wrong. So many times I’ve failed this test, but I’ve learned to quickly repent, place it under the all covering blood of Jesus, then when satan comes to accuse or guilt me out, I simply say, ‘Sorry, but that’s under the blood and it’s not visible any more!’ He can’t argue with someone who’s been forgiven. Psalm 103:12 says, “And he has taken our sins as far away from us as the east is from the west.” Praise God for that!

That next part of the verse says to pray for them. You might say, “Ok. I’ll pray for them but you won’t like what I pray!” I think Jesus set the example for us when he hung on the cross and said, “Father, forgive them for the don’t know what they’re doing.” If he could say that about those who beat him, spit on him, accused him, tore out his beard, tore his flesh, pushed a crown of 2″ thorns onto his head and nailed him to a cross…….well then.

Then there’s the part that says, “If you do this, you will be children who are truly like your Father in heaven.”  I don’t know about you, but I think I need someone to help me with all that. I need to spend more time with the one who loves like that. If I become like those I hang around with, I need to hang out with God ALL the time. In the morning when I rise, in the evening when I lay down, in between when I’m living life. I don’t want to just meet him, I want him to fill me up to overflow. Perhaps that’s why he sent us the Holy Spirit, because he knew we would need help loving.

Father, thank you for the reminder this morning that I need to be more like you. I may have come a long way, but I have a long way to go. I Corinthians 13:4-8a tells me what I need most; “Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous, it does not brag, and it is not proud.  Love is not rude, it is not selfish, and it cannot be made angry easily. Love does not remember wrongs done against it.  Love is never happy when others do wrong, but it is always happy with the truth.  Love never gives up on people. It never stops trusting, never loses hope, and never quits. Love will never end.”

Father, you are love and there is no end to you. As long as you have sons in the earth, your love will burn brightly though us. Thank you for being such a great example to us. For your great grace and mercy, we are forever grateful. Help us to show those same attributes to the deserving and undeserving today. We thank you in Jesus’ Name. Amen