"But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil. Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful." (Luke 6:35-36)
This verse struck me one day as I was feeling very angry toward someone. It seemed that God had brought more than one ungrateful person into my life, and I didn't like it one bit! As I was telling God how mad I was that I could not get away from these types of people--boy! does that ever sound egotistical!--God led me to these verses, and needless to say, they ended up written out on a card on my refrigerator! I needed reminding day by day!
I had memorized the Matthew version of this passage as a child: "But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust." (Matthew 5:44-45)
Sure I knew that. Love your enemies. Do good to them that hate you. But these people didn't hate me; they just seemed ungrateful. I felt used. So the Matthew passage didn't really cross my mind in relation to this issue.
But when I ran across the words in Luke: "He is KIND to the UNTHANKFUL" and "Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful," I realized that I wasn't doing as Jesus would do.
First it was just a little thing here and there--things I began doing to be kind to the ungrateful. I'll admit at first it was grudgingly. But as I started doing it as an act of obedience toward God, and also praying for the ungrateful person as I did it, my heart began to melt toward them! God worked a miracle in my heart, and I actually FELT more genuine love toward them! For us ladies, it's always nice when FEELINGS join us! :)
Is there an ungrateful person in your life to whom God wants you to be kind? What will you do TODAY as an act of obedience to be kind to that person?
It's just a simple principle, but it will so profoundly change your life!
This verse struck me one day as I was feeling very angry toward someone. It seemed that God had brought more than one ungrateful person into my life, and I didn't like it one bit! As I was telling God how mad I was that I could not get away from these types of people--boy! does that ever sound egotistical!--God led me to these verses, and needless to say, they ended up written out on a card on my refrigerator! I needed reminding day by day!
I had memorized the Matthew version of this passage as a child: "But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust." (Matthew 5:44-45)
Sure I knew that. Love your enemies. Do good to them that hate you. But these people didn't hate me; they just seemed ungrateful. I felt used. So the Matthew passage didn't really cross my mind in relation to this issue.
But when I ran across the words in Luke: "He is KIND to the UNTHANKFUL" and "Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful," I realized that I wasn't doing as Jesus would do.
First it was just a little thing here and there--things I began doing to be kind to the ungrateful. I'll admit at first it was grudgingly. But as I started doing it as an act of obedience toward God, and also praying for the ungrateful person as I did it, my heart began to melt toward them! God worked a miracle in my heart, and I actually FELT more genuine love toward them! For us ladies, it's always nice when FEELINGS join us! :)
Is there an ungrateful person in your life to whom God wants you to be kind? What will you do TODAY as an act of obedience to be kind to that person?
It's just a simple principle, but it will so profoundly change your life!
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