Do I Have to?

 "Do to others as you would like them to do to you." (Luke 6:31)

This is probably one of the most quoted Bible verses, and many don't know

it IS a Bible verse! It was part of my Bible reading this morning. It comes under the "header" Jesus teaches about loving Enemies. Love your enemies.

Yep, Jesus tells us we must.

Anybody out there have a hard time with "loving your enemies"? I think I saw a couple of heads nod, "yes" - so, I'll be transparent too, Yep, I do, but I don't want to! For long time I made the excuse that I didn't have any "enemies." Then I looked up what an enemy is: an opponent · rival · antagonist · combatant · challenger · competitor · opposer . . . and it became clear, I do have "enemies" plus, I'm not sure they even know it! (maybe that's a little too transparent!)

I've gotta fix this!!

One of the commentaries I read today said, "Loving our enemies means acting in their best interests, praying for them, thinking of ways to help them"; and I'll add, respecting our differences, and taking a look in the mirror. Each of these steps to loving my enemy starts with me! I can't change the person I see as an opposer, antagonist, or rival - but I can change how I view them and how I treat them.

Jesus doesn't tell me that I'm to "fall IN love" with this person, but to intentionally, consciously make an effort to be kind, to be helpful, to allow what frustrates me about this person to help me a better person!

I know that becoming more like Jesus requires my every day attention and commitment to follow Him; therefore, I can acknowledge that I'm not there yet, but every day to strive to get a little closer.

To answer the question in the title of this blog, Yes, I do. So, today I'm working on loving my enemies. What will tomorrow bring?

I guess I'll just have to wait and see :)