Go the Second Mile

I have been reading through the Bible for my daily devotion, and I came across the section where Jesus commands us not to hate or avenge a evil person.

Let me share with you the entire section in which I am referring too.

"You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on the right cheek, turn the other to him also. If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away. You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in Heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect."

That was long wasn't it? (Matthew 5:38-48 [NKJV]) However, there is so many awesome rules to follow and instructions for Christians to do that is different from others!!

Recently, the previous posts that were written, we have been discussing how Christians are different from the world on purpose. The same is explained here. I highlighted several of the key words we need to do towards those who hurt us, persecute us, or hate us.

To start off, I am horrible at this, and I'm not afraid to admit it. Constantly I argue with people who hurt my feelings or who do something wrong towards me that should be right. Even with my family I fight and argue with them so that no one is doing anything "bad" towards me. Jesus is clearly saying here, just let them.

So many different discussions can come from these 10 verses, it's one of the reasons I love Jesus's teachings. The main one I'm trying to point out is that, as Christians, we need to BE DIFFERENT from the world, by loving those who hate us. Twice, Jesus refers to how tax collectors do the same thing that we do. We all love those who love us back. Back when Jesus and the disciples were on the earth, tax collectors were the most hated people, because they took money from those who had none, and took extra for themselves. They were liars, thieves, and were called some of the worst sinners in their time. We need to love our enemies to be different from the world.

But why do we need to be different from everyone else? The reason is explained in verse 45 and 48, but also when people are different from others, people are automatically drawn or interested in that "different" person. Think about it. When you go to school, a party, or a social event, and there is a extra happy person, or someone who is extra nice and friendly, you want to hang out with them or want to meet them, right? Same as for Christians and the world. The world sees Christians in several ways, but if we actually follow the Word, and do as Jesus tells us (by loving those who hate us for example) people will be interested in us as people. They will ask us why we are so happy, why do we not hate, why are we kind, etc. and then we can share with them the good news about Jesus.

Hopefully that makes sense. Jesus wants us to love those who hate us, so that we can be different from the world, so that we can share the good news about Jesus and the Faith.

Thanks for reading!
God bless,
Josiah

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