Re:Verse reading—Luke 6:17-45 (day seven)
The great 18th century Methodist leader John Wesley wrote A Plain Account of Christian Perfection arguing that Jesus truly meant Matthew 5:48, “Be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect.” Or if you take our Lukan passage, “be merciful, just as your father is merciful.” Wesley ruffled a lot of feathers when he claimed that we should certainly strive every day to be as perfect or merciful as God is. Who can do such a thing as that?
Anyone trusting the Holy Spirit can do such a thing as that. As we allow the Holy Spirit to shape our attitudes we will live out Jesus’s sermon. Our problem with this passage is not inability its unwillingness. We want to reserve our love for people who deserve it when Scripture urges just the opposite. Wesley points us to 1 Corinthians 13, a passage we relegate to weddings, as our actual behavioral standard. We can do it, by the power of the Holy Spirit we can fully live out Luke 6, Matthew 5, and 1 Corinthians 13 in all of our relationships.
This verse, “love your neighbor” is a good principle. I define “our neighbors” are the ones in my surroundings. God is love and harmony and love and harmony cannot be achieved when there are still poverty, divided attention and unequal treatment.
I like the expression, “treat people the way you want them to treat you”, and that is what has been my motto in my daily conduct and relationships with people! We all may agree that love is the foundation for happiness so let’s spread love to our surroundings when we have the opportunity and the privilege to do so. We all are capable of behaving and acting with loving and compassion if the Lord Jesus is our model for building relationships!
“Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into friend.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
I am convinced that there is only one happiness in this life, to love and be loved. As Dr. King stated, we can transform an enemy into friend with love. Our happiness will be more complete when people in our surroundings also find happiness. How we treat others matters! One by one, step by step, little by little, we can make a difference in our surroundings.
Each of us must decide if we want to walk in love and to be loved!