WHO do you want me to love??
Tuesday, June 25, 2013 Posted by Katie
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This may come as a shock to
you, but I love praying for my enemies.
No, really! Jesus really
knew what he was talking about (doesn’t he always?) when he said, “…pray for
those who persecute you.” (Matthew 5:44). I get a lot of peace for praying so
purposefully…
…Lord, please help them
to see the error of their ways…
…Lord, please help them
to have compassion…
…Lord, please help them
to quit giving me grief…
See? That wasn’t so hard.
It’s the first part of
Matthew 5:44, however, that makes me shiver.
LOVE your enemies.
That’s the zinger that
prompts me to spout eloquent responses such as,
“Um…come again?”
When I hear “love your
enemies” I find myself immediately trying to define some weaseling-out
parameters…
How MUCH do I have to
love them, Lord?
What exactly does loving
an enemy look like? You mean just be, at minimum, respectful…right Lord?
Does it count as “loving”
one’s enemy if one restrains from bopping them on the head?
Perhaps, not. Perhaps the
answer must be “no” to all three of these pitiful questions because what
if…what if Jesus was asking them? Surely Jesus never asked his Dad how much
he was required to love us?
And I suppose, if HE didn’t
ask, then neither should we. Love is love. You gotta be all in. Love is
patient, kind, holds no record of wrongs…yadda yadda. (1 Corinthians 13)
Rats. (I know).
Like Father, like daughter/son, right?
