Love your enemies Part II

Luke 6:32-37
For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? for sinners also love those that love them. [33] And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same. [34] 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. [35] 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.

Jesus continues with the sermon on the mount. He is teaching how to love others. This is not an easy task but with the Lord’s help anything is possible. God gives us the strength to obey His word.

I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
Philippians 4:13
We are no different than the unsaved when we only love the people who love us or only do good to those that do good to us. As Christians, we need to be different. We need to show love to all people. This is a commandment from God. The book of Mark states in 12:30-31:

And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. [31] And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
Let’s think of a few examples where we can do something loving.When was the last time you were in the grocery store and someone in line had a crying baby and more groceries than you. The loving thing to do would be to let her go in front of you.

Do we act loving while driving, I’m speaking to myself here. I have a tendency to call names to people who do not drive very carefully –cutting me off, driving on my bumper, you get the picture. The Lord has been speaking to me in this area. He created those people too. Who am I to call them names, even though they can’t hear me. God hears all. I have been trying with the Lord’s help to “clean up my act”.

What about lending? Have you ever lent someone something and never got it back? God says let them have it. If you let someone borrow something don’t expect it back, if it does come back that will just be a bonus. God says if we have this attitude the reward will be great.

Now for the clincher, the end of verse 37 says, He is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil. Talk about conviction. Have you ever been unthankful or evil, God is kind to all of us. Can we do any less? God is our great example. We need to have unconditional love to others, just like God has towards us.

And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. Ephesians 4:32
Be loving, as opportunities arise.

Have a great day.
Donna