“But love your
enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward
will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High…Be merciful, even as your
Father is merciful. Judge not, and you
will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and
you will be forgiven” Luke 6:35-37.
Most likely, if we have enjoyed the benefits of great
friendships we have experienced the pain of one ending. A broken friendship can be one of the most
devastating experiences to go through.
Most of the time friendships are built upon an earthly need…a need to
comfort or to be comforted…a need to validate or to be validated…a need to
receive or a need to give. That is why
so many friendships become derailed…we
all come to the table with our own agenda and expectations…friendships outside
of the love of Christ are rarely free.
When we love others through acceptance of who they are
instead of whom we wish them to be we will experience our great rewards within
that relationship. When we see others
through the eyes of unmet expectations and broken promises it is tough to move
beyond. ‘Our world revolves around right and fair and correct. We protest to gain what we’re entitled
to. What’s owed to us. What justice must be served. Jesus’ kind of love is applied to this world
in radically different ways. He calls us
to see our broken friendship by extending the same grace Christ has extended to
you, the same mercy, the same forgiveness, and the same compassion. It means laying down our desire to condemn
and to demand satisfaction, just as He laid down those things.’ Stronger,
p. 151.
God calls us to love as His Son loved…being His children of
Luke 6:35-37…this will bring our greatest reward. We can resemble the kind of radical love that
Christ showed or we can resemble the flesh.
‘Make a tree good and its fruit
will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is
recognized by its fruit.’ Matthew 5:33.
No comments:
Post a Comment