Love your Enemies!

"Love your enemies!" Matthew 5:43

When we were young, my brother and sister were always quarreling. Any little thing, they would fight about. My brother could be so mean. He would be watching cartoons on TV, and when my little sister came in, he would change the channel to something she didn't want to watch. When she left the room, he would change it back to cartoons. 

My mother who got so frustrated, read this verse to the them: "Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen." (1 John 4:20) Amazingly, the quarrels stopped immediately! 

Do we have enemies? Our boss we don't get along with, or who claims our ideas for his own. A relative we got into conflict with years ago. The neighbor next door who gets on our nerves because of the many irritating things he's done over the years? 

In Leviticus 19, God said, "Be holy, for I, the Lord, your God, am holy. You shall not bear hatred for your brother in your heart. You shall love your neighbor as yourself." If we want to be part of God's people, we should try to practice this. If we can't right now, we can keep reading these verses to deposit it in our heart. There is power in God's Word. 

God says in Isaiah 55:11 says " My word will not return to Me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it." Yes Lord, may Your Word accomplish the purposes for which You send it in my life! I want to be holy, part of the people You set apart!