YOU HAVE HEARD IT SAID (Part 3 of 3)

You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” But I say to you, “Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. . .” (Matthew 5:43--45).

We have been reviewing what living according to God’s Kingdom principles looks like. We know that God commands us to love our enemies and to respond with a blessing when we are cursed. He wants us to go even further. He wants us to initiate good to those who have no love for us. He wants us to “. . . do good to those who hate [us].”

Doing good takes effort. Now imagine doing good to those who hate us, to those who from the depths of their being do not like us at all. Nothing but negative thoughts and actions come from their hearts. To these, God says, “Do good.” Counter the poison with God’s love. Be like your Father in loving those who are against you. Love by doing good deeds towards them. The result is stated in Matthew 5:16, “Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” What you do will be visible. The deeds will leave tangible evidence, and the evidence will speak of a life lived according to higher principles--God’s principles. And you, the one choosing to embrace God’s standards, will reap rewards for having lived a life pleasing to the Father.

Next, God commands us “to pray for those who spitefully use [us] and persecute [us]. . . .” The users are to be the object of our prayers; we should petition Heaven on behalf of those who wrong us! Of what effect is prayer? 1 Peter 3:12 says, “For the eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their prayers. . . .” 1 John 5:14 affirms, “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.” Our prayers on behalf of those who spitefully use us and who persecute us can change their lives. In James 5:16 we have the promise, “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” Prayer helps much. Because of your help in the form of prayers, troubled souls can have an encounter with Jesus. Tormented, spiteful persons can be set free, transformed into joyful, loving people who can, in turn, reach others for Jesus!

God challenges us to be like He is. He teaches us a higher way, urging us to overcome evil with good and to dare to be different so that we can get different results—Kingdom results in this world. Thus will His will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.