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the 12th chapter of mark, one of the scribes came and asked Jesus a question. He asked him: "Which is the first commandment of all?" Jesus answered of course to love the Lord your God with all your heart, and soul. Then Jesus went on to say that the second commandment is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ "There is no other commandment greater than these".
Matthew 5:43-44 says:
You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.
Sure we hear this all the time but do we really practice it? I know I need to work on it!
Normally, if we have an enemy, it only makes logical sense to hate them right? I mean, they are you enemies why should you love them? They are obviously wrong and you are right.. You know? These are all things we hear in this society. But you know what? Jesus said we have heard wrong!! Jesus said we are to love our enemies!! And if you really think about it for a minute, He is completely right! Darkness can not be driven out with darkness, it must be driven out with light. Hate cannot be driven out with hate, it must be driven out with love!!
When you allow yourself to hate someone you are REALLY letting them posses you! You are letting them get under your skin. You are letting them own you because they are always in your head, for this reason: You are always thinking about how despicable they are! You are always thinking how worthy they are of your hatred. No!! We don't want that. Whoever wanted enemies anyway?? I never did! No matter what you do in life, there are always going to be people that don't agree with you, but at least you can do your half by loving! Right? We are not supposed to think about what THEY should be doing, do your own part!
When you let hate overcome you, that brings out the absolute worst in you. We don't want that!
We are supposed to let our light shine, and be the salt of the earth!!
Matthew 5:13
You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.
I would say letting ourselves be overcome by hate pretty much means losing our saltiness.
Here is a little trick I learned if you ever need it: "It is hard to hate someone that you are praying for"
So get out there and show some love!
Matthew 5:43-44 says:
You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.
Sure we hear this all the time but do we really practice it? I know I need to work on it!
Normally, if we have an enemy, it only makes logical sense to hate them right? I mean, they are you enemies why should you love them? They are obviously wrong and you are right.. You know? These are all things we hear in this society. But you know what? Jesus said we have heard wrong!! Jesus said we are to love our enemies!! And if you really think about it for a minute, He is completely right! Darkness can not be driven out with darkness, it must be driven out with light. Hate cannot be driven out with hate, it must be driven out with love!!
When you allow yourself to hate someone you are REALLY letting them posses you! You are letting them get under your skin. You are letting them own you because they are always in your head, for this reason: You are always thinking about how despicable they are! You are always thinking how worthy they are of your hatred. No!! We don't want that. Whoever wanted enemies anyway?? I never did! No matter what you do in life, there are always going to be people that don't agree with you, but at least you can do your half by loving! Right? We are not supposed to think about what THEY should be doing, do your own part!
When you let hate overcome you, that brings out the absolute worst in you. We don't want that!
We are supposed to let our light shine, and be the salt of the earth!!
Matthew 5:13
You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.
I would say letting ourselves be overcome by hate pretty much means losing our saltiness.
Here is a little trick I learned if you ever need it: "It is hard to hate someone that you are praying for"
So get out there and show some love!
