Doing good
"43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. 44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; 45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? 47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? 48 Be ye, therefore, perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." Matthew 5:43-48
We believe most of us will identify a betrayal by a family or a friend, a harsh word or an action that shows this friend or family member certainly do not have good intentions towards us. What about being slandered by a family or a friend you feel you will do anything for? Someone you even love so much as to put his or her interests above yours?
You feel so hurt and decide you will never have anything to do with this person or rather you will keep your distance. Then this same friend or family member needs help. What will you do? Let us pause a moment here and think of what you will do...
The devotional text from the book of Matthew 5:43-48 admonishes us to love our enemies, bless them and do good to them that hate us as well as pray for them that despitefully use us and persecute us in a way. It is a command and as such, we should follow this command to the master's expectations.
Again, Matthew asks a very interesting question: what reward have ye if we love those who love us? Even the publicans do that! We as Christians need to go beyond this! Offer help and do good to those we know can even hurt us in every way possible!
Turning to Jesus and asking him for the strength to do this and secondly knowing that the good we do is not for that man but to our maker will help us carry out this command. If God in His infinite wisdom forgives our betrayal, we definitely have no business holding grudges.
One of our favorite hymnals goes like this…
Each day I will do a golden deed by helping those who are in need.
My life on earth is but a breath and so I will do the best I can!
May God help us as we spread smiles and lots of love to our families, friends, neighbors or even enemies.