Daily Devotional 09/09/24
Luke 6:35 (KJV)
35 But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.
How can we possibly love those who hurt us, who oppose us, who seem so against everything we stand for? The truth is, it’s not about us trying harder to love our enemies, it’s about recognizing that we were once enemies of God ourselves.
Before we came to know Jesus, we were living in opposition to God, whether we realized it or not.
Our hearts were distant, our actions were self-centered, and our lives were far from His perfect will. Yet, even though we were falling short, Jesus still loved us. He didn’t wait for us to change or to show gratitude. He chose to die for us while we were still His enemies.This love that Jesus showed us was not conditional. He didn’t love us because we were worthy or because we had done something to earn it. He loved us simply because it brought joy to God the Father.
Jesus had a true servant mindset, one that is so desperately lacking in our world today. We live in a culture that promotes self-interest, where people are more concerned with their own happiness and success. We truly don't care about the well-being of others. But Jesus came to show us a different way.
Jesus showed us a way of love, sacrifice, and humility.
We realize our true idenity when we try to love our enemies.
It's easy to say we love God and follow when it's convenient to our standards. But Jesus wanted to reveal to us that we are not capable of doing so. He's making a point that we are evil not because we murdered, but because we have no compassion for those who are exactly like us. We should have empathy but we don't even though we were just like our enemies before meeting Christ.
When we realize this, we start to truly appreciate the love of Christ and his sacrifice. Just like Peter said he was unworthy and told Jesus to leave him alone, we too can have that transformation in our heart. I realized as well that I don't deserve this life that Jesus gave me so abundantly. I was spiritually spoiled you could say. It's not to say we don't get frustrated or annoyed at times. But when we think a little deeper and reflect, we can actually be thankful that Jesus also died for that person.
I'm thankful for my "enemies" because if he killed them off, then that means he would have to do the same to me. But rather than killing us, he killed his son. What a merciful God we have. It's such an honor to be a part of his family tree.
We are truly blessed to have the breathe in our lungs and heaven as our destination. Amen!
