Luke 6:27 "But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.
A cerebral exercise is fine. A song that my pastor introduced as I was a young child had the words “God said it, I believe it, that settles it.” That carried me for a greater portion of my young life but in my early professional life there were some crushing blows that rocked me to my core. A decision made by a “disinterested third party” that changed my ministry, my place of worship, my kids schooling, our home and just about every other area of our lives. During the next six months, things got even worse. I was dong “God’s work” and a decision of someone 5,000 miles away radically changed my future and that of my family.
I have a Facebook friend that I will call “Mark”. Mark posts things for discussion on his Facebook feed that, I know, are just asking people to pummel him. Sometimes, as I read it and weigh in, I think that he is asking for it. After he is destroyed, he points that out that he is being persecuted for “righteousness sake”.
The Bible tells us to love our enemies but the further critical question that come up is why we have enemies at all. In Genesis, why did Joseph’s brothers become so bothered by the favored younger brother to be tempted to either kill him or sell him into slavery. “Why” or “If Only” statements can be some of the most perplexing and confusing that we face. Suffering because we deserve it is much more palatable than suffering unjustly.
Motive for persecuting us has no impact on how we respond to it. Luke tell us to love, do good, bless and pray. Genesis shows that after betrayal, human trafficking, slavery and being unjustly imprisoned, God had his way and through “the victim” saved thousands from the devastating impact of famine.
Are there people who seek to do you harm, you should love, do good, bless pray. We have been liberated from the burden of having to justify why we are suffering because our response should be the same.
Written by Steve Eccles
Posted by Pastor Ryan