Exceptions? // Matthew 5:43-45

Matthew 5:43-45 (NIV) | “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.

Love your enemies and pray for your persecutors. Are there any exceptions? Nope, not that I can see. Jesus indicates this is one of the keys to being in God’s Forever Family. We tend to want to lash out when we feel persecuted. When that happens, it does us good to remember that Jesus took the lashes of the Roman centurions’ whips that led us to the precipice of eternity. Jesus didn’t seek an exception or exemption, so neither shall we. After all, Jesus said if people hate us for our faith, we do ourselves well to remember the world hated Him first (John 15:18).

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