The Highest Standards
On Christ’s expectations of us
One very interesting thing I’ve noticed reading about Jesus and His life is the very high standards He has that allow for no compromise.
For instance, He once said that unless a person hates his family and even himself, he is not worthy of Him.
Obviously, in this context, He was speaking of love, and how our love for Him must dwarf the love we have for others. He's not merely content with second best, He demands your all or nothing at all.
The audacity of that!
That he spoke uncompromisingly on these issues shows how unyielding God is on the subject.
What concerns us today however is His command to love our enemies and pray for them. He goes further to say loving those who love you isn’t good enough, you must go beyond that to love those who hate you.
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect."
Matthew 5:43-48 NIV
This makes no sense! He points out that God does the same, loving those who are disobedient and hate Him.
The thing is, if you’ve tried to love those who actually love you; your family and friends by being there for them and loving them in the way they want to be loved, you know it's a constant battle with the selfishness that comes so easily to us.
But to further complicate things by demanding we love our enemies, is on another level.
However, if we claim to love Him and identify as His followers, we must obey His instructions and do as He says.
Fortunately for us, we don’t have to do this on our own, we have His Spirit within us to help us obey His commands and live up to His high standards.
#lifehackswithJesus
