According to Jesus

But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you (Luke 6:27-28). 

No problem, God. I absolutely love my enemies. I am always doing good to others, especially the ones who have it out for me. I live to be a blessing to anyone who curses me. I am in constant prayer for anyone who chooses to use abuse of any form towards me.

Unfortunately, this is probably not even close to how we respond to difficult circumstances. Instead, we choose to avoid our enemies at all costs. Love? Nowhere to be found. When someone hates us, we usually choose hatred in return, rather than choosing to do good to them. We curse those who curse us. We resent and grow bitter towards those who show us any form of abuse. We choose to act as the world expects us to. Instead of in the ways that God commands us.

In my Bible, the Scriptures noted above are written in red. We all know what that means. They are words spoken directly from the lips of Jesus. He goes on in verses 32-34 of this chapter to ask some pretty loaded questions:

If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount. 

Well, if that is not a Sonic Drive-In Route-44-sized slap in the face to the way that we live our lives!

When we choose this course, Jesus says that we are choosing to live, act, and respond to the situations that we face in the same way that a sinner – one who does not know or have a personal relationship with Him – would live, act, and respond. We are making the choice not to live out our faith. We are choosing not to be the reflection of Him that He calls us to be, and that we committed to be when we asked Him into our hearts.

Does it do any good toward the work of the Lord for us to only love those whom we know already love us? Does it mirror the heart and compassion of our Maker when we choose to do good only when we know that it will, in some way be beneficial to us?

“Sure, I’ll give to the needy. It will be a great tax write-off! Yes, I will serve on that ministry team at church. It will get me huge recognition! Absolutely, I will go on every mission trip possible. Do you have any idea how amazing that will look on college applications or on my resume for that ministry position I’ve had my eye on? I will forgive them. But only if they forgive me first. And apologize. Otherwise, deal’s off.”

Sound familiar? This is how the enemy uses our inherent sin-nature against us to transform our kingdom-focused hearts and minds into those that are vain and worldly. Like much of the world – the sinful, godless world – we have become accustomed to the ‘all about me’ mindset. But Jesus goes on in verses 35-38 to say this:

But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.

Jesus continues to stress godliness over worldliness. We are to live our lives completely for His glory. We will have trials. We will be faced with situations, circumstances, and people that seem impossible to get past. God will place opportunities in front of us to show His love, mercy, and generosity to others without expecting any recognition or benefit in return.

We are simply called to live as a reflection of Him in all that we do. When we follow His commands and show His love selflessly, we will look around one day and realize that our cup is pressed down, shaken together, and still overflowing with the rewards of living a life in accordance with the words of Jesus. And that’s not all! The rewards we will have in heaven after we have lived out God’s will for our lives on this earth will be far greater than anything our human minds can fathom.

He doesn’t say that the choice to follow Him will always be the easy choice, but it will always be the best choice. Make the choice not to live according to the world, but according to Jesus.