Chapter 13 - The Enemy -- the "Extraordinary"
Mat 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you
Persecute you.
Bonhoeffer- '"Bless them that persecute you." If our enemy cannot put up with us any longer and takes to cursing us, our immediate reaction must be to lift up our hands and bless him. Our enemies are blessed of the Lord. Their curse can do us no harm. May their poverty be enriched with all the riches of God, with the blessing of Him whom they seek to oppose in vain. We are ready to endure their curses so long as they redound to their blessing.'
My thoughts-
How many read that and found it all but impossible to imagine?
Blessing one who is cursing you.
First of all, when we are being cursed at the feelings those curses cause to rise up in us generally are no where near the sort that would have us wanting to bless anyone, right?
It's that knee jerk, gut reaction we've honed to perfection over the years- respond in KIND, give as you are getting. The idea of blessing one who is actively cursing us, it's all but unthinkable, isn't it? We're being cursed! The awful flood of negative reactions that creates in us leave very little room, alright, no room at all for blessings, right?
Seriously, we respond with hurt, anger, but seldom, if not at all, with blessings.
We feel abused wrongly when we are cursed, believing that no matter what's happened we do NOT deserve to be cursed.
Bonhoeffer says, 'our immediate reaction must be to lift up our hands and bless him'. Our immediate reaction to bless those persecuting us. He goes on to say, 'Their curse can do us no harm.' This is true isn't? The harm it commits is wounding our feelings and producing un-Christlike reactions in us, which if we were to respond with a blessing, it would NOT do!
If we do as our Savior instructs us to do, we are NOT sinning in kind!
If we do as our Savior instructs we are REVEALING CHRIST to the one persecuting, cursing us.
The blessing we give to them- what should it be? What do you imagine you should ask for as a blessing to one who is hurting you? Should it be a generic blessing, asking God to bless them as He knows they have need of a blessing? Should it be something more? Truly it's probably a situation of deciding such a thing in the moment, but imagine someone cursing you, go on, imagine it. What does the imagining bring to mind, besides that instant hurt feeling, pained reaction? Using your imagination let's go do away with that self-centered reaction and listen to our Savior's instruction. We are cursed and as the cursing assaults us we… maybe close our eyes and pray silently, or perhaps we don’t even close our eyes, but we instantly pray- Lord, please bless this person cursing me.
The prayer takes our minds off ourselves, doesn't it, shouldn't it?
Isn't this what our Savior has been trying to teach us all along? To LOVE OUR NEIGHBORS, to LOVE GOD? NOT to simply focus all on ourselves. There is NO commandment to selfish love, not one. Loving others as we love ourselves means to love others as we desire love, not necessarily as we are loved, or love/like ourselves. No commandment saying LOVE YOURSELF, PUT YOURSELF FIRST.
Even when we are being abused, the abuser comes first. It sound so WRONG, doesn't it? But we've abused God so much, our every sin has abused Him, and He put us first! Did Christ put His abusers first?
Luk_23:34 Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.
And Christ tells us--
Mat 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you
Did our Savior mean what He said? Is this truth He is speaking to us? Would He ask us to do the impossible?
Mar_11:25 And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.
Mar_11:26 But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.
Would He ask us to FORGIVE if He thought it was impossible to do so?
Mat_19:26 But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.
WITH GOD all things are possible!
Jesus is NOT asking us to do any of those things without HIM, only WITH HIM, only as HIS FOLLOWERS, HIS DISCIPLES!
Sure, if we try to bless anyone that curses us, we won't be able to- but Christ in us can do that.
We need to decide if we are truly Christ's disciples or if we are simply pretending to be His disciples.
If we are truly Christ's disciples we must LIVE as His disciples, IN HIM, THROUGH HIM!
All by HIS AMAZING LOVE AND GRACE!
Mat 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you
Persecute you.
Bonhoeffer- '"Bless them that persecute you." If our enemy cannot put up with us any longer and takes to cursing us, our immediate reaction must be to lift up our hands and bless him. Our enemies are blessed of the Lord. Their curse can do us no harm. May their poverty be enriched with all the riches of God, with the blessing of Him whom they seek to oppose in vain. We are ready to endure their curses so long as they redound to their blessing.'
My thoughts-
How many read that and found it all but impossible to imagine?
Blessing one who is cursing you.
First of all, when we are being cursed at the feelings those curses cause to rise up in us generally are no where near the sort that would have us wanting to bless anyone, right?
It's that knee jerk, gut reaction we've honed to perfection over the years- respond in KIND, give as you are getting. The idea of blessing one who is actively cursing us, it's all but unthinkable, isn't it? We're being cursed! The awful flood of negative reactions that creates in us leave very little room, alright, no room at all for blessings, right?
Seriously, we respond with hurt, anger, but seldom, if not at all, with blessings.
We feel abused wrongly when we are cursed, believing that no matter what's happened we do NOT deserve to be cursed.
Bonhoeffer says, 'our immediate reaction must be to lift up our hands and bless him'. Our immediate reaction to bless those persecuting us. He goes on to say, 'Their curse can do us no harm.' This is true isn't? The harm it commits is wounding our feelings and producing un-Christlike reactions in us, which if we were to respond with a blessing, it would NOT do!
If we do as our Savior instructs us to do, we are NOT sinning in kind!
If we do as our Savior instructs we are REVEALING CHRIST to the one persecuting, cursing us.
The blessing we give to them- what should it be? What do you imagine you should ask for as a blessing to one who is hurting you? Should it be a generic blessing, asking God to bless them as He knows they have need of a blessing? Should it be something more? Truly it's probably a situation of deciding such a thing in the moment, but imagine someone cursing you, go on, imagine it. What does the imagining bring to mind, besides that instant hurt feeling, pained reaction? Using your imagination let's go do away with that self-centered reaction and listen to our Savior's instruction. We are cursed and as the cursing assaults us we… maybe close our eyes and pray silently, or perhaps we don’t even close our eyes, but we instantly pray- Lord, please bless this person cursing me.
The prayer takes our minds off ourselves, doesn't it, shouldn't it?
Isn't this what our Savior has been trying to teach us all along? To LOVE OUR NEIGHBORS, to LOVE GOD? NOT to simply focus all on ourselves. There is NO commandment to selfish love, not one. Loving others as we love ourselves means to love others as we desire love, not necessarily as we are loved, or love/like ourselves. No commandment saying LOVE YOURSELF, PUT YOURSELF FIRST.
Even when we are being abused, the abuser comes first. It sound so WRONG, doesn't it? But we've abused God so much, our every sin has abused Him, and He put us first! Did Christ put His abusers first?
Luk_23:34 Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.
And Christ tells us--
Mat 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you
Did our Savior mean what He said? Is this truth He is speaking to us? Would He ask us to do the impossible?
Mar_11:25 And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.
Mar_11:26 But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.
Would He ask us to FORGIVE if He thought it was impossible to do so?
Mat_19:26 But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.
WITH GOD all things are possible!
Jesus is NOT asking us to do any of those things without HIM, only WITH HIM, only as HIS FOLLOWERS, HIS DISCIPLES!
Sure, if we try to bless anyone that curses us, we won't be able to- but Christ in us can do that.
We need to decide if we are truly Christ's disciples or if we are simply pretending to be His disciples.
If we are truly Christ's disciples we must LIVE as His disciples, IN HIM, THROUGH HIM!
All by HIS AMAZING LOVE AND GRACE!
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