“Love your enemies … hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great … He is kind to the unthankful and evil. Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful … Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you … For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you” (Luke 6:35-38).
At Mission ConneXion Northwest, Michael Ramsden was invited to be a plenary speaker, and he shared this illustration at the beginning of his talk.
Most of Jesus’ parables relate to him and his church. In Matthew 18 he describes a king who calls his servants to account. Evidently, the king was dealing with servants who had been exposed for committing crimes and the servant in greatest debt was one of the first offenders to be brought before him. In some way, this man had managed to fall into tremendous debt, owing the equivalent of hundreds of millions of dollars. When he was called to account, “he was not able to pay” (Matthew 18:25).
Ron Brown joins Gary Wilkerson in this special episode to discuss racism in America.
For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.
Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
One of the supreme marks of a mature believer is love for all of lost humankind. Such a Christian shows love equally for Jews and Palestinians, for Bosnians and Serbs, for everyone.
If you claim to have no enemies, I suggest you take a closer look. Of course, every Christian faces an enemy in Satan. The apostle Peter warns us: “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8).
Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.
Many Christians are lovers of Jesus, yet they sin against the light they have been given. They’ve heard thousands of righteous sermons, read the Bible daily for years, and spent countless hours in prayer. Yet they’ve allowed a besetting sin to remain in their life and cut off their communication with Jesus. When the Holy Spirit convicts of a sin that has never been dealt with, it comes with a warning: “This sin must go! I won’t wink at the way you’ve been indulging it.”