And what does Jesus say we
should do? Love them! He doesn't say ignore them, or avoid them, or tolerate
them; He says love them! By love, Jesus means a love that has nothing to do
with how you feel about the person, nothing to do with liking the person,
nothing to do with what they deserve, nothing to do with getting anything in
return. Jesus isn't concerned about what we feel for them, He's only concerned
about what we do for them. Jesus love is
an act of the will; we decide to love the other person.
"Do good to
those who hate you." You know that
person you can't stand and who can't stand you?
Jesus says do something nice for them. Radical? You bet, but Jesus said,
"If you do good only to those who do good to you, what credit is that to
you? Even sinners do that." Now what if you do good to that person and
they go on treating you just as badly as before? Then what? That's the whole
point Jesus is making. You go right on doing good for them. Christian love
never depends on what the other person does.
"Pray for those who
mistreat you." Is Jesus telling to pray for evil people so they can go on
mistreating us or abusing us? I don't think so. He's telling us that we must
pray that God will work in their hearts to change whatever needs changing, and
pray that they will respond to God's will. I think Jesus is really on to something
here because I've discovered that it's terribly difficult to hate someone I'm
praying for because when I bring their situation to God, it often helps me to
see more clearly what makes them how they are. "Pray for those who
mistreat you."
Lord, I pray for all my
Sonshine Friends to give us the courage to turn the other cheek. Sometimes we will
get hurt, but this is the only kind of love that will grab the world's
attention, that will set us apart. As we begin to look forward to the season of
Lent, it's time for each of us to choose: am I ready to live my life by Jesus's
standards or will I continue to live by the world's standards. May God give us
the strength to choose the way of love.
