Matthew 5: 43 - 48 " .... love your enemies. Pray for those who hurt you. If you do this you will be true children of your Father in heaven.
He causes the sun to rise on good people and on evil people, he sends rain to those who do right and to those who do wrong. (vv. 44, 45; NCV Bible)
I seriously doubt it makes any difference to God whether we are good or evil, relative to His blessing us with sun and water, meaning He's going to do it anyway. How are you doing with your enemies? This week's scripture and message from Rev. Schmidt hit me smack between the eyes, with or without Covid or our nation's unrest. My enemy-list is down to four, that I care to admit to; AND may the meditations of my mouth, heart, mind and keyboard be acceptable in your sight, oh God, our rock and redeemer! Personally, I tend toward indifference or flat out apathy toward my adversaries, which usually allows me to not have to engage. After all, I think: at least this stance keeps me neutral, rather than perceived in any sort of overt aggressive judgemental manner. Not that I haven't heard of praying for one's enemies before, but I'm seeing [that] in light of our Pastor's words around living out our lives as God would have us do, quite differently in this context. Is my / your identity really in God?
Truth be known in my four cases (relationships), sincere praying for them will go a long way toward replacing my self-preservation mode! My prayers have the potential to enable me to turn the other cheek with serenity rather than anxiety or apathy. In the older of the 4-cases, my knowledge and association with recovering from substance abuse encourages me not to try to make amends to one where harm will result. However praying for them and believing they're doing the 'best' they can, not only eases my conscience but keeps them from living rent-free in my head. Do you have any relationships from the past that steal from your present? In a perfect world, how would God have you live that out? The other three are alive and kicking in my sphere! I'll spare you the details here, but my understanding of Jesus' methods are a distant cry from how I'm not loving my enemies. It, however, is a new day; I just stepped out to view the sunrise, did you catch a glimpse? - t'was glorious! Prayer for those who hurt me /you is a great place to start. Who knows, my giving to God, those whom I'm currently unwilling or able to contend with might yield a positive surprise. I do know that the status quo is yielding zilch, Leviticus 19:18 advises that we not seek revenge or hold grudges and the voice of a bygone mentor reminds me: that if nothing changes, nothing changes.
May God be merciful to us because we show mercy to our enemies.... His peace & mine, Kevin for FCC's Deacons.