Loving Everyone
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:43-48)
During His famous Sermon on the Mount, Jesus discusses the importance of loving everyone, not only those who are easy to love. This is one of those concepts that is easy to read and comprehend, but very difficult to implement into our daily living.
When someone has truly hurt you, caused you pain or suffering, or has treated you unfairly or unjustly, it can be hard enough just to forgive the person. But to love them? That can seem close to impossible.
Thankfully, nothing is impossible with the Lord our God; and with His help and with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we can learn to love those who are difficult to love.
If we’re being honest and it were up to us, we would just choose to focus on loving those who love us—those who are close to us, who treat us with respect, and who are on the same page with us about the way we live our lives and the way we see the world. But that’s not what Jesus is calling us to do in this passage.
Instead, He is commanding us to love everyone, whether they’re kind and loving toward us, or whether we would consider them our enemy. So moving forward, may you take this command to heart. May you ask the Lord to help you be loving to all, even when it’s difficult, so that you may shine a light for Christ and ultimately point others towards His conditional love for each of us.
During His famous Sermon on the Mount, Jesus discusses the importance of loving everyone, not only those who are easy to love. This is one of those concepts that is easy to read and comprehend, but very difficult to implement into our daily living.
When someone has truly hurt you, caused you pain or suffering, or has treated you unfairly or unjustly, it can be hard enough just to forgive the person. But to love them? That can seem close to impossible.
Thankfully, nothing is impossible with the Lord our God; and with His help and with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we can learn to love those who are difficult to love.
If we’re being honest and it were up to us, we would just choose to focus on loving those who love us—those who are close to us, who treat us with respect, and who are on the same page with us about the way we live our lives and the way we see the world. But that’s not what Jesus is calling us to do in this passage.
Instead, He is commanding us to love everyone, whether they’re kind and loving toward us, or whether we would consider them our enemy. So moving forward, may you take this command to heart. May you ask the Lord to help you be loving to all, even when it’s difficult, so that you may shine a light for Christ and ultimately point others towards His conditional love for each of us.
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