Luke Chapter 6: 35-36 (NIV-UK)
But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
Romans Chapter 5: Verse 8 (NIV-UK)
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
It’s easy to be kind and supportive to those we get on with, and to our friends and family, and we certainly don’t do so with the expectation of getting anything back in return. We don’t always get on with everyone though, and we tend to avoid contact as much as possible with those who rub us up the wrong way. Jesus taught His disciples not to do that. They were to do good to them as much as they would to those they loved. That’s not an easy thing to do, and if we do sometimes, there can be a grudging obedience in doing so. That’s not what Jesus intended either. Sometimes even when we do something for those we do get on with, it may seem that they take what we have done for granted. Does that bother us? Jesus says that it shouldn’t.
Many years ago, I went for my first promoted post. I put in the application, and under my immediate boss’s direction, I did a fair bit of homework about the post and the department it was in. There was another young girl that I knew slightly who worked in the office next door. She applied for the post too. She got an interview and I didn’t. I was disappointed but I gave her the background homework I’d done and told her she might find it helpful for her interview. After I had done that, my boss told me that she thought that was a very Christian thing to do. The lassie subsequently got the job. It may have had nothing to do with the information I gave her. This girl was not a close friend, and she was certainly not an enemy. But it taught me to put aside my disappointment and do the right thing. Jesus wants us always to do that even for people we find it hard to get along with. After all, God sent Him to die in our place, regardless of whether we even show any acknowledgement of that.
My boss noticed what I had done for that other girl, even although I wasn’t looking for any recognition or thanks. By following Jesus’ example and being kind to someone who may not even deserve it, we may be planting a seed that will flourish in the future. And it feels much better to be kind does it not?
Dear Lord,
Thank You for showing Your love for me, even before I showed any acknowledgement of what Jesus did for me. Help me to follow His example and never treat anyone differently just because we don’t see eye to eye. As Your ambassador may the way I react never reflect badly on You. I’m grateful for the grace and mercy shown to me. May I show that same grace and mercy to others, no matter who they are, or what they have done. I ask in Jesus’ Name. Amen.