Mat 5:44-5
But I say to you,
Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who
hate you, and pray for those who despitefully use you, and persecute
you;
That you may be the children of
your Father in heaven: for he makes his sun to rise on the evil and
on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. [Jesus]
Jesus
not only spoke these wonderful words, He lived the Reality of them:
From the Cross, He prayed for the forgiveness of those who betrayed,
falsely accused, and tortured Him. For me personally, these have
been the most powerfully liberating words that Jesus spoke. I see in
this teaching the solution to the relationship problems of the human
family. These words of Christ should be on bulletin boards,
newspaper headings, included in every book, in every language of the
world! Herein lies freedom from some of Satan’s most prevalent and
destructive deceptions: The lies that “My behavior is justified or
determined by your behavior. My happiness and/or freedom and/or
peace are determined by whether or not others do what they are
supposed to. I can only love people when they act right, treat me
fairly, kindly and respectfully.” We must not dismiss this
commandment of our Lord because it is difficult to obey. If we do
not learn to live the Reality of these words, we will be victims of
other peoples’ behaviors and attitudes. We will be determined by
them, rather than by the Holy Spirit of God’s love in us. These
words reveal to us that God does not want us to be determined by each
other; He wants us to be determined by His love and goodness. This
is how we become free. This love of Jesus is the most powerful force
in the universe. It is the Power by which the universe came into
existence. The Bible says that “God is
love” [1Jn 1:9]. We must let this Love be the determining and
motivating force of our daily lives. This
Love liberates us
from being determined by other peoples’ sinful nature
manifestations. If we
learn to live this
teaching of Christ, we get ourselves emotionally and behaviorally
detached from all that
is not yet sanctified in others. We are not determined by their
attitudes, moods, behaviors, failures, meanness, insensitivities,
etc. We are only determined by God’s love for them, and for us.
God does not want us to take other peoples’ sinful nature
manifestations personally—even if they are directed at
us! This is the example He has
given us in Christ, Who came to set the captives free [Lk 4:18].
Lord Jesus, thank You so much for
teaching and living the Truth. And thank You for showing us how to
be free, and for empowering us with Your Holy Spirit, that we might
love—even our enemies.
No comments:
Post a Comment