Love Your Enemies?

"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I (Jesus) tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect." Matthew 5:43-48

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God."

How will they know we us as followers of God? By our love... that we love one another, that we love God, that we love our neighbors as ourselves, that we love ourselves, that we love our enemies... that we love... everyone without condition... extending the love and grace we have received from God to ourselves, to our families, our friends, our neighbors, our coworkers, those who bless us, those who curse us... God says to bless those who curse us... God asks us to give what we have to those who are in need... I think many times we don't feel like we have anything to give... times are hard, money is tight... giving is much more than financial aid, though that can be one way of showing love... as long as it's given out of love, a little or a lot it is a blessing... and we have more to give than we know sometimes... we have grace, mercy, forgiveness, peace, hope, joy, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, self control, and LOVE from and of God... we can always give love... we are called to it... we might all have different gifts and vocations and careers but we are all called to love...

I've been really asking God what that looks like for me... how do I love my enemies? How do I bless those who curse me? What does that look like in my own back yard to globally? A friend of mine asked a question in her facebook status that looked like this: As Christians who love Jesus are we supposed to "fight for our rights" or "lay down our lives?" or both?... I've been examining the scriptures and asking myself what I really think of all that... for example, there is a LOT of debate over the building of the mosque by ground zero. A lot of Christians are mad, a lot are enraged, a lot are protesting it... I'm not saying any of that is right or wrong. I understand where they are coming from... but at the same time... I hear ringing in my ears... "blessed are the peacemakers", "blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness". Maybe it is meant as an affront and a curse... but we are called to bless them... if it is true then they are looking for a fight... they are wanting one, they want the protests... love is a dirty four lettered word to the enemy that he hates... how do we love them? How do we bless them? How do we show them God? How do we look past the circumstances of this finite world that will pass away and into the Spiritual and the matters of the heart and soul and fight the battle there? Love... I don't have all the answers... I may be wrong in much but I want to paint a picture and see what it invokes... I'm sure not everyone will agree and I'm not saying this is the right way but I had this picture in my mind's eye and I was wondering what it would look like if we as followers of God actually lived it out? How would it affect the hearts of those who may want to curse us? How dumbfounded would it leave the world? Here's the picture I had... what if we laid down our our picket signs and offered our help? What if we fed their hungry, clothed their needy, what if we asked what they needed and how we could help? What if we asked them how we could pray for them and then actually did? What if we blessed them? What if we loved them? What if we offered what we had to give? And when they looked at us like we're crazy and asked us why we said, "because we love Jesus and because we love you"? I know the end of the story... I'm not afraid (well, maybe a little if truth be told) of persecution... it's already here, and it will continue... what really matters? Does living the American dream really matter? Is life really about having more than I need and just having fun and protecting that for future generations? It sounds nice... it really does, and I don't think there's anything wrong with that... but what about the hearts of the perishing? What about our call to love and bless our enemies even if it interferes with our comfort? I don't know... I'm pondering... I'm asking, I'm working it out.... God show us how to love!