Daily Devotions

Matt 5:43-48 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?
47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?
48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

Did Jesus really say that we are to “Love your enemies”? Are we really to “Do good to hem that hate you, and pray for them despitefully use you”? I was watching the news coming out of Baltimore this morning as many are, and the Mayor of Baltimore said a few days ago “We want to give those who want to destruct room to do so”. Now she is trying to say that she never said that, but it is on tape, she said it and they are doing it. Did Jesus really say that we are to love our enemies? Yes He did, and to be sure we know it He recorded those words for Christians of ever age to read. That means 1 Cor 13 is to be applied to those I love, but also to those who hate me, making me love them. This can be very hard, very, very hard to put into practice. But our example in this is Christ. (Verse 48) How did Jesus love? What were the first words Jesus spoke from the cross? “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Jesus loved from the cross. When the repentant thief asked Jesus to forgive him, to remember him when Jesus entered into paradise, is that when Jesus began to love him and forgive him? No, that started long before. Jesus loved that man when he mocked Him, when he reviled Him, Jesus loved that man from the foundation of the world in spite of all that he did to Jesus. That man’s sin nature was not taken care of until he asked for forgiveness, but Jesus loved him all along. I am not to wait until my enemies make things right, not to wait until they ask forgiveness of what I think was an action or words spoken against me, I am to love and forgive them from the start. This can be hard, but it keeps us in right standing with God and when we are in right standing with God little else matters.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 28th, 2015 at 6:40 am and is filed under Daily Devotions. You can skip to the end and leave a response.