Luke 6: 27-38
But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you. And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloke forbid not to take thy coat also. Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again. And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise. For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? for sinners also love those that love them. And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same. And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again. But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil. Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven: Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.
In our last post we had made the observation that we are commanded to do more than just bear, or to tolerate our enemies; we are to actively be kind to them. How do we know this? Well, Jesus said, “love your enemies.” Since we know true Biblical love is love in action, that inherently means we have to take action, even towards our enemies, to put love into action. In other words, be kind to them. “Do good to them which hate you.”
We closed that post with the statement, “Well, that’s pretty lousy, isn’t it?” First, none of God’s direction is lousy, okay? That is NOT what I meant. I just meant that we really don’t want to be nice to people who hate us. We really don’t even want to tolerate them. What we want to go is get them back! So, it’s lousy from the standpoint that it goes contrary to everything we find in us naturally. But, that is the point isn’t it? We are not supposed to be our natural selves; we are supposed to be different selves upon our salvation.
We are new creatures right?
2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
So, at this point we agree that: God tell us to do it, and we can do it through the power of the Holy Spirit because He has made us new creatures. Great, now how exactly can we be nice to our enemies?
Don’t retaliate. Turn the other cheek. If a man takes your shirt, offer him your coat. That is really pretty self evident, isn’t it? On, the other hand, it must not be that self evident, as God had to write it down for us. Okay, somebody calls you the biggest moron on the planet; does it really accomplish anything to prove they are actually the biggest?
Humanize your enemy. Dehumanizing an enemy is the easiest way for us to justify hating them. We hate ISIS, we hate homosexuals, we hate abortionists, and the list goes on and one. Guess what? Those people are NOT our enemies. God doesn’t hate them, so we don’t get to either. Does that mean I support terrorism, gay marriage, or abortion? Well, no, it does not. I still don’t get to hate the practitioners of those t hings.
On a more personal level, considering the human side of any attack on you might just diffuse the entire situation. Even though there is rarely a good reason to attack another, there might be a driving reason. Whether that reason be right or wrong, it may still be there. It’s not that hard. Has somebody gotten in your face for no reason? Ask them: Brother(or sister), what have I done to offend you? Notice I didn’t say ask them what their problem is.
Go out of your way, with purpose, to simply find something kind to do to one who hates you.
Boss got it in for you? Work harder
That lady at church turns up her nose and never speaks? Make sure you go out of your way to be friendly to her. Now, look, motivation matters here. There is a fellow at our church who has not spoken to me in eight years. I used to go out of my way to say hi and shake his hand. Then I realized I was doing it to bug him. That’s not what I mean here, okay?
Teacher at school have in in for you? Be a model student.
And on it goes, get it?
April 4, 2017 at 09:18
Reblogged this on Talmidimblogging.
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April 4, 2017 at 10:03
Thanks brother Vincent, and I hope you are well today!
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April 4, 2017 at 11:03
Wally, does this mean I must even forgive a neighbor whose rickety tree fell on our roof a month ago and hasn’t offered any words of apology????
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April 4, 2017 at 11:29
Yep it do, Tom. Doesn’t mean you have to invite him for dinner though. LOL
You know, really forgiving sometimes only repairs us, and our relationship with Jesus. The offender has to work out their own issues.
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April 4, 2017 at 11:38
Thanks, Wally. This tree issue is actually a good “teaching moment” from the Lord for my wife and I.
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April 4, 2017 at 12:13
Isn’t it funny how He does that, Tom?
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April 4, 2017 at 12:15
Yup and if we’re not walking with Him it will go…Whoosh!…right over our heads.
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April 4, 2017 at 12:17
You know, Tom, there was some bad blood with me an my mother for years over some childhood things and I struggled for years forgiving. It was my Christian wife who pretty much smacked me around and told me I had to do it. If not for that, I am pretty sure my mother would have died lost. By reputable reports, she did not.But I was the first person to ever actually tell her the real Gospel, even though she had been, in her mind, a Christian all of her life. Had I not gotten beyond my hurts, I never would have told her.
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April 4, 2017 at 12:34
Wally, that’s a great testimony about your mother. It often works like that, right? The world rarely sees Christ-like forgiveness so it’s a complete “oddity” when it’s demonstrated and the Lord can use it to soften hearts and spur curiosity and questions. Coincidentally, the next Kazan movie I’ll be reviewing centers on an antagonistic parent-child relationship and forgiveness.
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April 4, 2017 at 11:43
“We are not supposed to be our natural selves; we are supposed to be different selves upon our salvation.”
Amen, Wally!
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April 4, 2017 at 12:14
That has provided me much assurance of my salvation, Maria. That being the change that occurred. Of course nobody instantly becomes perfect, but many things I loved and reveled in, I hated. Still do some of them, but I never like it anymore.
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April 4, 2017 at 14:08
yes! It is reassuring and we know He will finish the good work He began in us.
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April 4, 2017 at 15:40
I like how you use Luke 6. Most use verse 38 as an offering verse (which is fine). However, the give written of is a heart for not only giving but also for forgiving. You get back that which you give. If you do not forgive then don’t expect to be forgiven.
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April 4, 2017 at 15:57
I have heard that too, but in the context I think you are closer to what was really being talked about there.
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April 4, 2017 at 20:37
i thinks it’s also a test of maturity for us to have the ability to love enemies..which cannot happen unless love of GOD has overpowered us…great post thanks..
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April 5, 2017 at 13:45
Thank brother. Yep, totally impossible without His help
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April 5, 2017 at 20:15
Humanize them. That’s a good point. Good post.
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April 6, 2017 at 06:32
Sadly blogland makes that come to mind. It’s so easy to treat a invisible person across the work behind a nameless avatar anyway you want too.
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April 6, 2017 at 11:23
Very very true. It’s easy to hide behind the mask of an avatar and pound someone away uncharitably, hyper-critically and unlovingly.
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April 6, 2017 at 11:32
Yep internet warriors abound
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April 6, 2017 at 12:19
LOL
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April 6, 2017 at 12:20
LOL yeah, a lot of them being self-decorated with Comment Infant Badges.
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April 6, 2017 at 13:59
Ha. That was good
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April 6, 2017 at 14:07
I need to find someone that can make a meme of a comment infant badge so I can hand them out but alas I’m not good with photoshop lol
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April 6, 2017 at 14:17
I don’t even have photo shop lol
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May 15, 2017 at 12:34
Love this post. I’m so happy there are blog posts out there focusing on our Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you for sharing
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May 15, 2017 at 12:42
Thanks so much for reading and the input..blessings to you!
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May 15, 2017 at 16:52
Thanks for sharing the love of God!
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May 15, 2017 at 17:25
Thank you for the encouraging word
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May 16, 2017 at 08:25
Can you help me to promote my blog for me to get excempted on my final exam. fielicity.wordpress.com i only need 50 followrs. Thankyou please follow me too
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May 16, 2017 at 08:30
Hi Fielicity, welcome to my place. I am always glad to lend a helping hand. I hope you will visit often and read about our Lord Jesus Christ, and feel free to jump in the conversation and ask any questions, anytime!
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May 16, 2017 at 09:48
Sure thing, but it’s pretty hard to not harm enemies. That’s a lesson for the rest of our lives, u know? Anyway, thanks for the message. 🙂
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May 16, 2017 at 09:51
I agree it is an lifelong lesson. If I may offer some counsel from one who struggles with this daily(that being me!) This particular passage, in my Bible, I have underlined, highlighted, and stars all around it. I read it often, usually several time a week. I used to read it every morning as a reminder before I stared my day just what my Lord expects from me out in the world.
Thanks for reading and commenting, and I hope to see you again!
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May 17, 2017 at 02:48
. I need to find someone that can make a meme of a comment infant badge so I can hand them out but alas I’m not good with photoshop lol
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May 17, 2017 at 03:34
dongamoc.wordpress.com plaease follow me back 🙂 this is a requirements to my subject thanks 🙂
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May 17, 2017 at 05:26
it s really very much difficult to do good with the enemies. but we should try to do the efforts to bring it into practice.
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May 17, 2017 at 06:32
Oh yes indeed it is difficult, but as you said, we should try. Thanks much for coming by.
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April 4, 2017 at 14:58
Thanks for the link!
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