"You have heard it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you to love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous." Spoken by Jesus in His Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:43-45)
The birds have it right. They are smarter than we are even though they have bird brains. They flit from place to place, unmindful of what type of neighborhood they are in. They'll perch in a flowering dogwood or a snarly ol' thicket. Their songs of rejoicing can be heard as they happily peck about because they know the Lord opens His hand to them.
Twenty-four seven, the news and its images threaten to shove their way into my home, my mind and my soul. Hatred, division, avarice, corruption and violence waft their stench into my Father's world, just as it had when His Son walked the streets of Judea. How can I see through the effects of sin to love the sinners beneath?
I must surrender. The world does not revolve around me; it's all about Him. His greatest commandment is to love God and our neighbors as ourselves. This is a tough order, but not impossible with the help of God. He is Love! In the NIV translation, the Bible mentions the word "love" 551 times! Surely we can find the help we need in our instruction manual.
In all honesty, there are certain people who offend my beliefs and all that is dear to me so thoroughly that I just want to gnash my teeth at them, but I can't; not if I am a follower of King Jesus. I must at least begin by showing respect, as Peter instructed in his first letter: "Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God and honor the emperor" (1 Peter 2:17).
This prayer was in my devotional today: "Lord, forgive us when we reduce people to the political views they espouse or the irritating things they do. Help us to see each person for who they are: your image-bearer with inherent value."
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