Day 257
Matthew 5:44
"But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you."
When Jesus told His disciples to respond positively to those who did negative things to them, how could He expect them to obey Him? How can someone love his enemies? How can we bless those who curse us and do good to those who hate us? Certainly, Jesus could not have been asking for a natural response to hatred, cursing, etc. It is natural for us to preserve our lives and our happiness. We naturally defend ourselves against those who try to hurt us.
Jesus was talking about a spiritual response, not a natural one. He was teaching His followers to think and act like God the Father. God looks beyond the faults of man and sees their need. He sees them as victims, not just criminals. He believes many will change their behavior when their eyes are opened to the truth they have never known. He believes that when they see unconditional love, they will open up to hear and understand the gospel.
How can we, real humans with real feelings, give a godly response to ugly people when they mistreat and offend us? Being born again does not make us mechanical robots with no real feelings. We have to respond from our spirits, not our heads. We must dictate to our flesh what we will do. As an act of our wills and out of obedience to the command of our Lord, we can declare our godly response and discipline our bodies to cooperate with our spirits.
The good news is that practice makes perfect. It may seem hard when we first start to make godly responses to evil provocation. However, as we continue to discipline ourselves to do what is right, it will become more and more natural to act like God. Our flesh is like a child. After a while, if we are consistent, our flesh will realize it cannot have its way and stop harassing us. Let us press on to be more like our Father today. He is good to everyone, regardless of how they behave.
I will discipline myself to make godly responses to unkind people. God will use me to help people open their hearts to receive the gospel and change their lives.