The Right Heart 2

Luke 6:27-28, 31 GNB

“But I tell you who hear me: love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,  bless those who curse you, and pray for those who ill-treat you.........  Do for others just what you want them to do for you.

If there's anything that has proven difficult over the years, this passage is one of them. I have heard people say that Christianity isn't stupidity, and that God does not expect me to take just anything in the name of Christianity. But in reality, we know that the call to receive Christ is a call to the denial of self and right, and the imposition of the will of God on you. You surrender your desires and wants and take up God's own. You stop living for yourself alone and start living to please God alone.

This is where the issues lie. Even when you are trying to live right, how can you be held responsible for other people's reactions? Why would God place a burden on you to take whatever people do or give you and turn it into something good? Even when it seems as if I have done my best, it may not be enough. What do I do? God expects me to keep at it, doing my best, living for him, showing the same character traits that He showed when He died on the cross for me. He didn't wait until I was lovable or nice; neither did He wait until I was deserving of his love. He showed love even when I was at my worst, ignoring him and hating him. He expects the same from me, because I carry his nature and his Spirit inside of me. I have been renewed to be like him and to think, talk, act and react like him: in love, no matter what the other person gives back.

What it then means is that other people's reactions shouldn't be my focus; I should just watch my own life and the fruits that my life bear.  I am a city set on a hill, and people watch from every point. They must see the difference and the light must so shine that it shows the glory of God. Is my life that kind of example? Am I reacting in anger or in Love? Do I have the nature of God in me, or am I still struggling with the sinful nature, trying to get even with people when they offend me? Remember, every seed sown will bear fruit in greater measure than was sown, so watch what and how you sow. His time of favour is here.