A weekday morning devotional series written by Aaron Marcarelli and hosted by Chad McBeam
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may prove yourselves to be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Even the tax collectors, do they not do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Even the Gentiles, do they not do the same? Therefore you shall be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
Matthew 5:43-48 NASB2020
These are such convicting verses to me. It is so difficult to love the unlovable and yet it is they that need the love the most. That is one of the reasons Jesus tells us to love like this.
It is radical to love the: unlovable, the hated, the enemy, the rival, the gossip, the braggart, or the prankster. There are countless other types of people that I could list, the interesting thing about that list is that we are probably on that list and it is why Jesus says in
Matthew 19:19 “Honor your father and mother; and You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” and again in Matthew 22 37-39 “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Upon these two commandments hang the whole Law and the Prophets.”
It is not a suggestion for us to love like this. Jesus is commanding us. How do we do this? It is only through Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit. We can’t love like this on our own. It takes work and effort: to be in His word, to pray for strength and patience in order to be like Him. We must on a daily basis strive to follow him and to worship Him, with all our heart, mind, soul and strength. If we are able to do these things we can fulfill the two greatest commands.
This is radical love, that is achieved only through the power of the Holy Spirit. It is the only way we as followers of Christ will change the hard and darkened world.
Lord thank you for your command to love like you. Thank you for giving us your Holy Spirit to help us have this radical love. Knowing full well that we could not do this alone. Help us as your followers to seek you daily so that we can love like this. We desperately pray for those who don’t know you and this radical love you have called us to is what changes hearts. We pray that your radical love will exude from us today. In Jesus Name we pray, Amen.
Shalom Blessings and Press in and Press on!