“If you’re listening, here’s My message: Keep loving your enemies no matter what they do. Keep doing good to those who hate you. Keep speaking blessings on those who curse you. Keep praying for those who mistreat you.If someone strikes you on one cheek, offer the other cheek too. If someone steals your coat, offer him your shirt too. If someone begs from you, give to him. If someone robs you of your valuables, don’t demand them back. Think of the kindness you wish others would show you; do the same for them.
Listen, what’s the big deal if you love people who already love you? Even scoundrels do that much! So what if you do good to those who do good to you? Even scoundrels do that much! So what if you lend to people who are likely to repay you? Even scoundrels lend to scoundrels if they think they’ll be fully repaid.
If you want to be extraordinary—love your enemies! Do good without restraint! Lend with abandon! Don’t expect anything in return! Then you’ll receive the truly great reward—you will be children of the Most High—for God is kind to the ungrateful and those who are wicked. So imitate God and be truly compassionate, the way your Father is.” Luke 6:27-36
We read this briefly when I wrote about how not to be a Pharisee.
A few years ago, a had what can only be described as a grace awakening. It was a shift in my faith that changed everything about my faith. It felt a little like receiving salvation for the first time. I’d met the end of my limits, and Jesus had been rebuilding me, but still, there was an aspect of my faith that was as dry as fallen, dead leaves on the ground that quickly crumble into dust. The special spark that the Spirit gives was missing from my faith life. I still felt as if I was missing Jesus. I kept walking more in obedience to Him anyway.
Once the awakening happened, I read the words of Scripture with newness and wonder, like a kid with free rein at the candy shop. Chains I’d been carrying around unaware since childhood had been released. Grace was not just an ideology, it was a living, breathing entity that wrapped its arms around me. All that the Father was teaching me about His love was truer. I began grasp the depths, widths, lengths, and heights of His love. My roots into Him were producing something that was no longer shallow – something more than just a seedling of an oak of righteousness, but maybe a tree that was strongly rooted into Him.
Around this time, I think Grace for the Good Girl came out. While grace already begun breaking chains of religious systems and things that I felt I had to follow, this book continued to change my life. I began to write about it. (See the 2011 and 2012 archives or search for grace and numerous posts will come up.) And about that time, it became a subject of interest at church too. To see how I defined it, you can click here.
A friend of mine said that grace releases us from the expectations of others too. Grace should simultaneously release us from the burden of expectation upon us from others, and we should offer the same release of expectations to them as well. Her words continue to impact me often. I think of that when I read the above passage from Luke – Lend with abandon! Don’t expect anything in return! Then you’ll receive the truly great reward—you will be children of the Most High—for God is kind to the ungrateful and those who are wicked. So imitate God and be truly compassionate, the way your Father is.
Here in the South, a common rule of etiquette is that if you receive a dish for some reason, you must return it with a treat or goody along with the dish. There are a host of man-made rules that enslave us. During this “awakening,” I stopped following the man-made rules. I am pretty sure I leaned more into the side of license for a while.
I had a friend who if I asked her to help keep one of my kids, she would quickly turn around and make sure I kept hers. I finally had to say, “I cannot always repay the debt. I want you to know that when I keep your kids, there is no debt to be paid (I expect no return from you), and if you expect one from me, we need to discuss that.”
My actions may not have been overly loving like the passage speaks of, but I was learning to love myself in the way that God did in grace, to say, “I cannot always mentally, spiritually, physically, etc. repay the debt I owe to you, will you love me anyway?” I can never repay the debt I owe to God. You can imagine most people don’t really love this way, but we are called to do so. We almost always expect something in return. I want to learn to deeply love even though it may never be returned – a love without restraint.
This is one in a 31 day series of Seeking Jesus. If you’d like to keep up with each post in this series, subscribe here.
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