Love your enemies.….

What does this mean? When someone hurts you, or steals from you, your initial reaction, anger, hurt, is a normal human response. We were created as emotional beings. And when someone hurts you, we go straight to emotions. You want the person who hurt you to suffer. We want an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth Ex 21: 24. So when people steal from us, we want them to suffer. I was talking to someone this week, and they were telling me they had something stolen from them. They were angry. Yet the LORD reminded them, that when they were a teenager, and younger, they were also stealing from others. So they too must experience the anger, frustrations that they made others experience. And this person was angry at first, but then they calmed down and said “I want to help the thief”…Pro 6: 30-31 tells us, we understand when people steal for getting food to eat, but it is still wrong, and there must be a punishment. For some, being caught is embarrassment enough; yet for others, it is a way of life, and they do not care whom they hurt. Ex 22: 1 there is still restitution required, but then there are also other forms of punishment, rather than the normal ways of punishing. For instance, steal from a church, and your punishment should well be, attend church and listen to God’s Word. What sort of a punishment is that? Well, it could be an eternal direction changing encounter with the LORD. For some people, their punishment, actually changes the direction not of just life, this life, but the next life also. So, we can be focused on what we have lost, or we can focus on what others can gain in our loss. Its all about, what makes you tick. And as I said last week, what makes you tick, is shown in the surprise events of life. Unexpected things happen to you. And who you are, comes out in those times, from your heart, to your mouth. God encourages us to love mercy. Mic 6: 8. That is be motivated in life, by show forgiveness when you are heart. Mercy when you want justice. I hear so many times- payback, payback, let them suffer. These types of attitudes, are storing wrath, upon ourselves. It will come back on us. We should learn, as quickly as possible, to be compassionate and understanding. If people want to abuse our kindness, yes, it hurts us, but as God’s servants we get over it quickly. But ultimately it is not us that people are abusing, but God- Lk 10: 16. Who listens to you, listens to me. So, let us use every opportunity, even theft, to reach out to people and to share the Word of God. Maybe that Word comes in the form of a gentle rebuke, or gentle correction. But if the LORD opens a door for us, even via a negative thing like theft, let us use every opportunity to bring people to the LORD. Did not Jesus say, open your eyes, the harvest is ripe? So, open your eyes, when someone does wrong to you, and see that as an opportunity to talk about Jesus.

MCC Admin

25 Chesvan 5782