"You
have heard that it was said, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR and hate your
enemy.' But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute
you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His
sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the
unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do
not even the tax collectors do the same? If you greet only your brothers, what
more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Matthew
5:43-47
Jesus has been giving his disciples instructions as to how
to carry themselves in a manner that reflected him. He reminds them of a familiar teaching. Everyone is aware, he says, of love your
neighbor and hate your enemy.
He may have noticed that his disciples were influenced by those around
them and had a tendency to gravitate to the word on the street. He challenges them to consider a higher
response to those around us who are our enemies.
Many Christians tend to listen to the world about matters
related to relationships. These may form
a world-based opinion on things that need a spiritual perspective to properly
handle. Jesus lets the disciples know
that He knows what they have heard doesn't work like the world thinks it will
work and He doesn't want his followers to act that way. He notices that what they hear and what they
hang around can cause them to be on the same level as others. Loving your neighbors and hating your enemies
is the worldly norm, but we are to be an exception. Peter wrote that we are to be a “peculiar people”, not clones of the
world system. We have been called to be
world changers, not world followers. We
are chosen to be above average and not the norm.
Too many of us are living the average kind of life. Average means wedged somewhere in the middle
of the pack; not as well as some, but maybe a little better than others. Not the best, but not the worst either; nothing
really great, but nothing all that bad.
A writer named John Schiller said; "The average estimate themselves by what they do, the above
average estimate themselves by what they are."
Andrew Carnegie said,
“The average person puts only 25% of his energy and ability into his work. The world takes off its hat to those who put
in more than 50% of their capacity and stands on its head for those few and far
between souls who devote 100%.”
One thing about being average is it doesn't take much of
anything to be positioned in the middle of the pack. After all a minimal effort will do the trick,
but average doesn't take you places.
Jesus says to his disciples, I know what you have heard but
I don't want you to be average or the norm.
I want you to love your enemies, bless them that curse you and do good
to them that hate you and pray for them that despitefully use you and persecute
you. He is letting us know that we
should not do to others what they did to us.
Our job is to p-r-a-y for them and not p-r-e-y upon them. Remember Jesus said you shall know they are
my disciples if they have love one to another!
Wow! Now that's living life in
the above average category and not the norm!
Let's stand out! We can do it with the help of God!!!
Scripture to Claim:
Let no one deceive you with
empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons
of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them; for you were formerly
darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light (for the
fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth),
trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. Ephesians 5:6-10
