Loving All the Others

“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?”
Matthew 5:46-47 (NIV)

We are still on the mountain side and Jesus is still teaching. Jesus is in the “you’ve heard it said…” portion of his message. That means in some ways he gives the answer, before he asks the question. In this instance He starts by saying: “You have heard it 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” (Matthew 5:43-45). Then comes the questions, that I believe are really meant to make us look at ourselves from the perspective of Jesus’ words about loving our enemies. If you only love those who love you, how is that any better that what sinners do? If you only talk to your family and friends, that’s nothing special. Even unbelievers do that? Sit with that for a bit – I reckon they should be making us a little uncomfortable, maybe more than a little.

I think, and scripture seems indicate that there is a priority to who we love. In what followers of Jesus know as the great commandment we are given the top priority: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37). Then as followers of Jesus we are to love our fellow followers – that’s how people will know that we are His disciples. Last but not least, there is everyone else.

There is nothing to indicate that there are boundaries around love. Nothing about only loving people we agree with. Only loving people who look a certain way or act a certain way or – you can add whatever boundaries you might put up around who you love.

We live in a time where families are torn apart because they don’t agree about certain topics. Where in some cases churches are being torn apart because the members don’t agree with each other or their leaders on certain issues. We, unfortunately, live in a time where some who follow Jesus spew just as much hate as unbelievers.

What if we looked at life from someone else’s perspective? What if we took the time to pursue the truth about what is happening in our world, rather than doom scrolling or relying on the nightly news? What if we remember that we used to be sinners and as such we were enemies of God but He loved us anyway?

I’ll leave you with this challenging question, is how you are loving all the others, pointing them to Jesus or not?

Let me know your thoughts. Know someone who might be encouraged by this email – please share. I will be praying for you. Until next week – love God and all the others around you.