Live a Different Life
Loving our enemy is not the intuitive life. How practically can we live out loving our enemy?
And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.
Luke 6:31
What does loving our enemy look like?
Bless them
“Bless those who curse you” is a different “bless” than “Blessed are the poor.”
Jesus uses the Greek word we use for eulogy.
So, this means, “Celebrate with praises about those who curse you.”
This is always your first response, right? Because I know it’s mine (not really, sarcasm people).
So in the break room, around the water cooler, how do you speak of that one person in the office who you just can’t get along with?
Turn the other cheek
The easy thing to do is to fight back.
The other easy thing to do is to run away.
Fight or flight.
But there’s a third response.
Look the one who wants to hit you (figuratively, literally) right in the eye and let them swing away.
The hardest response. But the most powerful response.
To the person who wants to continually pound on you, how can you stand strong, look them in the eye and yet have their way?
Give to them more than they take
The easy thing is to refuse and to demand your rights and to sue.
The other easy thing is to drop your possessions and run away.
The hard response is to say, “You obviously are in need, you need my undershirt as well as my coat?”
To the person who continually wants to demand of you, how can you meet their demands and then give to them beyond their demands?
Give to everyone who asks
The easy thing to say is “Not in my budget” or “We don’t have enough.”
When someone comes asking for money, the hard response is to say, “Yes, I am able to give to you. What else do you need?”
What if you said “Yes” to every request of you? This doesn’t mean you give everything all the time, but you’re able to do something every time.
Live a Different Life
As parents and leaders, we must give a different vision. Those far from God will be nice to those who are nice to them back.
But we Hear & Follow Jesus. The one who gave completely of himself.
We must be the ones who truly live our life the way we want others to live towards us.
This life is the hard way. It requires the Life of Jesus inside our soul. This is not the intuitive life. We must trust God completely that our actions will bring life change in them.
And if they never change, we must trust God completely to use this way of living to completely change us.
But this is the life which truly shows off a merciful God to a judgmental world. And mercy in a cancel culture is a shining light to those longing for more.