10/30/2021 Matthew 5:43-45 [NIV]

 10/30/2021  Matthew 5:43-45 [NIV]

     “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’  But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous".

    So, Jesus, who is my enemy?  This question is suspiciously like the one posed by the Pharisees after hearing the story of the Good Samaritan: ‘Who is my neighbor’?

    The teachings of Jesus confuse those who don’t yet have the Mind of Christ.  In order to have His mind, one must believe Jesus is God come in the flesh to die for our sins, AND we are sinners who need to be forgiven.  Only then can we grasp Truth itself.  That doesn’t mean the truth is easy.  We still have our selfish natures—the ‘I Me Mine’ that is the source of all of our anguish on this side of eternity.  It is also why we sometimes believe other Believers who follow Jesus are enemies because they are not ‘of us’.  Especially when they believe ideas that offend our sense of righteousness.  That is why the Sermon on the Mount included the command to not judge lest we be judged.  Much has been said and remains to be said on that matter.

    Then there are those who are hostile to Jesus and to those who follow him.  They are not our enemies because they detest us, but because they are separated from God, even if they believe themselves to be a more righteous version of Christians who they call hateful because they do not compromise what the Bible teaches about sin.  In this confused swamp of insanity, the Believer must remain close to the living Christ, because he is raising himself within as we follow him and his teachings, no matter what.  We are ‘becoming’ the children of God.

    Only the Christ living within can overcome our fear and anger towards those who want to cancel and criminalize us for simply believing and speaking truth to the power of the god of this world.  Even to those who are today killing and persecuting followers of Jesus around the world.  His love for the world he died to save passes into us, and only then can we act upon his word despite our selfish aversion towards those who in some cases can only be saved by the love and witness of those who bear the image of Jesus Christ.

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