happy saturday!
Jesus said: "love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who treat you badly..."
nouwen comments: "these sayings express not only the essence of nonviolent resistance, but also the heart of Jesus' preaching. if anyone should ask you what are the most radical words in the gospel, you need not hesitate to reply: 'love your enemies.' it's these words that reveal to us most clearly the kind of love proclaimed by Jesus. in these words we have the clearest expression of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. love for one's enemy is the touchstone of being a christian."
who are our "enemies"?
how well do we love our "enemies"?
three thoughts...
enemies are people who are against us and attempt to make our lives miserable...
enemies are people who have different thoughts and idealogies than we do and usually attempt to impose these unpleasant ideas and foreign practices on us...
enemies are people who serve a different Master and espouse a conflicting worldview to ours -- kingdoms in conflict...
no wonder the love of enemies is so radical...
but how -- how do we love our enemies [as Jesus did]???
with a heart that wants each of them to find their way home...
that is what we pray for...
that is why we befriend them...
that is why we pursue them...
that is why we serve them...
that is why we love them with Jesus' love of another kind...
during this lenten season, let's seek to be world-class lovers!
blessings!
guy
remember to "spring" your clock forward TONIGHT...
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