Who is Your Enemy?

Matthew 5: 43 – 48

⁴³ “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor^[a] and hate your enemy.’ ⁴⁴ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, ⁴⁵ 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. ⁴⁶ If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? ⁴⁷ And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? ⁴⁸ Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.  (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%205:43%20-%2048&version=NIV)

I wore a shirt one day that said, I love . . . and it was a country that some people have no regard for.  I was criticized for wearing the shirt as if it were a political statement and told that I should not wear it again.  But the thing is, it was not a political statement, it was a sincere statement that I do love that country not for who they are or what they stand for but for whose they are.  Even though they may not do things the way I believe they should, even though there are ungodly things that go on in that country (like nothing ungodly goes on in America), I know that God loves them just as much as He loves me.  I know that He sent His Son to this earth to save them just as much as He sent Him to save me.  I know that the “church” is growing more rapidly in that country than it is in the United States, why should I not love them?  Jesus is very clear in this passage that we should not just love our brothers and our friends but that we should love our enemies.

In most cases it is easy for a person to love someone who loves you.  If someone throws themselves in front of the bus for you, you will most likely cherish them.  If someone gives you everything you ever desire, you will most likely love them.  But what about those that annoy us?  What about those that are always asking for something and never giving in return?  What about the one that just never agrees with anything you say?  Are those people easy to love?  Those are the people that Jesus says that we should love and that we should pray for.

Maybe your worst enemy is yourself.  If that is the case pray for yourself, that you can love yourself in order to love others.  Remember God loved you first, He made you, and you are worth more than gold to Him.  If you love God, then love yourself.

Maybe your worst enemy is someone who ridicules you and puts you down, persecutes you, pray for them.

Maybe your worst enemy is another country.  Pray for them, that God’s glory will be made known to them.

Today, as you seek Him remember the words found in Hebrews 12:14 ¹⁴ Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews%2012:14&version=NIV)  May God bless you as you follow His commands and work towards the perfection of Christ.

Seeking Him with all my heart,

Sheila

Showing Mercy

Matthew 5:7

            “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.”

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary fount at http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mercy the definition of “mercy” is:  “compassion or forbearance shown especially to an offender or to one subject to one's power”.

For me it is very easy to show mercy to those who I love and care for.  I can even show mercy to those who have less than me, who have been less fortunate in life, who are downcast and rejected by this world but . . .there it is in the definition “especially to an offender”.  Grrrr, why did the definition have to add that?!?  The word offender indicates that someone has done something wrong and most likely, it has affected me in some way or another.   The answer to that question can be found just a few verses from the one we just read and again it is Jesus speaking:

Matthew 5:43-47

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy. (44) But I tell you:  Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, (45) that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.  He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on righteous and the unrighteous.  (46) If you love those who love you, what reward will you get?  Are not even the tax collectors doing that?  (47)And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others?  Do not even pagans do that?”

Wow, that really puts me in my place.  If I want to be shown mercy, I should ask myself how well I am showing mercy to others.  Today as you think about being merciful, think not about your friends or those who you think deserve your compassion but think of those who have hurt you and show mercy to them.  Remember to pray for them as Christ instructs us to do.

Christ did not only instruct us to do this, He displays it on the cross.  As He was hanging between two men who were offenders and He in the middle who had committed not crime, He showed mercy.  Look at Luke 23:41-43, one thief on the cross recognized he needed to be shown mercy when he says,

(41)“We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve.  But this man has done nothing wrong. (42) The he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. (43) Jesus answered him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.” 

At this point you may be thinking that this man asked to be shown mercy, he had recognized the authority of the one who had the power to give him his just punishment but let’s look at another time just prior to that where he showed mercy to those who did not ask for it.  In Luke 23 gives us the account of Jesus trial and the sentence of death that was given to Him by the crowd.  One criminal was released and Jesus took his place (along with ours) on the cross.  As they were beating Him, stripping Him of His clothes, spitting in His face, mocking Him, this was what Jesus prayed,

Luke 23:34 “Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”  

 Now, that is a prime example of what He said when He told us to pray for our enemies.  That is the ultimate example of showing mercy.

When we seek the Lord with all our hearts we discover His greatness more and more.  As you seek Him today seek and follow His example of mercy and show mercy to someone who needs it, not someone who necessarily you feel deserves it.

Seeking Him with all my heart,

Sheila