LOVE ALL MEN
Luke 6:27:”but I say to you who hear: love your enemies: do good to those who hate you.
Luke 6: 31: And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise.
Jesus commands you to love all men, regardless of creed, color or race to demonstrate God’s eternal, unconditional and impartial love. The source of hate is jealousy, ignorance and fear. To overcome hate, you must imitate God and walk in love. The kind of love that Christ expects you to demonstrate to your enemies can only be achieved through you by the power of the Holy Spirit. As you yield and submit to the Holy Spirit, He will empower you to love your enemies with a pure heart, pure conscious and pure motive to the glory of God.
"The entire law is fulfilled in a single decree: love your neighbor as yourself” (Galatians 5:14)
You cannot pick or choose whom you love because all men are made in the image of God, and life is endowed with dignity. It is not natural to instinctively desire to love your enemies but with the help of the Holy Spirit you can reach out to them with acts of love. God demonstrated His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5-5-8) . So, when you respond in love to those who hate you, you will be are responding as God, and you will be demonstrating the love of God that you experienced to others, for God is love. The love of God will flow through you to love other, particularly those who are difficult to love.
Jesus said: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. “ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. (Matthew 22:37-40)
BLESS AND DO NOT CURSE
Luke 6:28:”Bless those who curse you and pray for those who spitefully use you.
Luke 6:32: But if you love those who love you, what credit is that for you? For even sinners love those who love them.
Proverbs 17:13: “Evil will never leave the house of one who pays back evil for evil.”
Jesus did not tell us exactly what to pray, but we can look at scriptural examples on how He handled a similar situation. Naturally, you back off when at odd with someone; however, Jesus commands you to do otherwise. He expects you to bless and not curse and pray for those who spitefully use us. This begs the question: what should you pray about?
Let’s look at how Christ handled a similar situation: Jesus at the cross, ask God to forgive the sins of those who put him there for they did not know what they were doing.
ACTS OF FAITH(Matthew 6:9-15)
Ask the Lord to forgive your sin as you forgive those who sin against you.
Ask the Lord to lead you not into temptation as He leads them not into temptation.
Ask the Lord to demonstrate His goodness to you as He demonstrate His goodness to them –the goodness of God leads us to repentance.
Ask the Lord to grant you grace to obey His command, as He grant them grace that brings salvation to them
Ask the Lord to give you a forgiving heart to demonstrate His love through you to them
Ask the Lord to pour out His love in your heart to love them
Ask the Lord to bless you and them in sincerity and truth.
As you can clearly see God is working in you to conform you to the image of His son and He is working through you to demonstrate His love to your enemies. As you yield, submit and surrender to the Holy Spirit, He will empower you to live out the mercy, compassion and love of God to others. Do this, so that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. (Luke 23:34)
In the dispensation of grace, we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but principalities and powers, rulers of darkness and weakness in heavenly places. The person you are at odd with is influence by a spirit, just as you are influence by the Holy Spirit. As a result, your quarrel is not with the person, but with spirit that influences that person. You may not have a quarrel per se, but the spirit in you causes the spirit that influences him/her to be at odd with you. So use the sword of the spirit to address the issues at stake.
In the dispensation of grace, you bless and do not curse knowing that whoever curses you will be curse and whoever blesses you will be blessed. If you are Christ’s then you are Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise. (Genesis 12:3, Galatians 3:29)
BE SLOW TO ANGER
Luke 6:29: “To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also. And from him who takes away you cloak, do not withhold your tunic. “
Jesus did not say you should allow people to exploit you. Rather, you should overcome evil with good. You should establish boundaries with people, to avoid repeated offense in order to maintain an amicable relationship, especially, in a case of abuse. Do not return insult for insult or succumb to name calling, this grieves the Holy Spirit and creates unease within you. If it is possible, as much as it depends on you, live peaceably with all men.
Jesus did not say you should be passive in the face of evil, rather you should resist evil and resist the urge to render evil for evil. But instead be swift to hear to listen, be slow to speak to understand and be slow to anger to bear fruits of self-control and patience. Why? Because when you respond in anger, you usually regret the words or the way in which you express yourself, which complicate things, remember, the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Count it all joy, my brethren, when you go through various trails, because you know the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Allow perseverance to finish it work, so that you may be matured and complete, not lacking anything.
Jesus said: In this world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
“A fool’s wrath is known at once, but the prudent man covers shame”
So what is Jesus saying?
He is saying that you should not retaliate when offended, do not render an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, but rather love the offender to win the relationship and resist the urge to retaliate to win the fight- a prudent man overlook an offense; be sincere in your relationship with others, so that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. This is easier said than done, but when you submit to the Holy Spirit, He will lead and guide you in truth to save the relationship.
BE GRACIOUS
Luke 6:30: Give to everyone who asks you. And from him, who takes away your goods do not ask him back.
Luke 6: 33-34: And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you? For even sinners lends to sinners to receive as much back. And if you do well to those who do well to you, what credit is that for you? For even sinners do the same.
Proverbs 19:17: “He who lends to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will pay back what he has given.”
So what is Jesus saying?
Jesus did not say you should give to everyone without discernment but rather you should give generously in the best interest of the recipient. You should give to meet the immediate need of those around you, be it a loan or a gift, without expecting a return. Your giving should not enable someone to indulge in greed, escape irresponsible behavior or engage in sin, but rather your giving should meet urgent needs. “Do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifice God is well pleased.” Your giving should be done in compassion and with a pure heart and pure motive to alleviate a burden. (Deuteronomy 15:7-8, Romans 13:16)
ACTS OF FAITH (Luke 6:35-38)
Love your enemies, do good to them.
Bless those who curse you, love them.
Forgive and you’ll be forgiven.
Judge not and you shall not be judged.
Condemn not, and you shall not be condemn.
Give or lend, hope for nothing in return.
Be merciful, your Father is merciful.
Do these things and your reward will be great .You will be sons of the Most High; For He is kind to the ungrateful and evil.
May the Lord healed your broken -heart and binds your wounds. May the Lord empower you to respond to life events in a way that pleases Him . May you abide in faith, hope and love, knowing that the love of God will see you through this experience. May He empower you to overcome this event for His glory, in Jesus name, Amen.
Glory to Jesus: Your response: Glory!