Love your enemies
Day 437, Wednesday, Oct. 22
Matthew Chapter 5 – 6:24
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven.”
How do you recognize a Christian?
That’s a challenging question. Is it by their words? Is it by their actions? Is it by the way their words align with their actions? Is it even our place to be trying to recognize who is and is not Christian?
While recognizing that all of those are good—and difficult—questions, I think the Sermon on the Mount is a good place to look to try to understand what a Christian looks like.
Look for the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers and the persecuted.
But 5:44-45 also gives us a good clue. To be children of God, it says, we are to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us.
We live in a time when people proudly proclaim their hatred for their enemies. We live in a day when people are quick to say they are persecuted, and to use that persecution as an excuse for hatred. We live in an era in which the word “hate” itself has become a weapon with which to label and belittle anyone we disagree with.
That’s not what children of God do.
“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 own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?”
Then comes one of the most difficult but most exciting challenges in all of scripture: “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
Our very human impulse is to quickly start explaining why this doesn’t really mean what it says. But it says we are to be, literally, godly people.
Jonathan Roumie, the actor who portrays Jesus in The Chosen television series, is an outspoken Christian who often discusses his faith in interviews. I once saw him asked what had changed since he became more serious about his faith, and he said, “Now, I’m trying to be a saint.”
That’s the level of devotion God calls us to.

Wednesday meditation

Psalms 15:1-5
Lord, who may dwell in your sacred tent? Who may live on your holy mountain?
The one whose walk is blameless, who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from their heart; whose tongue utters no slander, who does no wrong to a neighbor, and casts no slur on others; who despises a vile person but honors those who fear the Lord; who keeps an oath even when it hurts, and does not change their mind; who lends money to the poor without interest; who does not accept a bribe against the innocent.
Whoever does these things will never be shaken.

Prayer focus
Lord, bless and comfort those who hate us and who seek our harm.

-Rev. Mark Fleming