shocking…

“But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you. If someone slaps you on one cheek, offer the other cheek also. If someone demands your coat, offer your shirt also. Give to anyone who asks; and when things are taken away from you, don’t try to get them back. Do to others as you would like them to do to you.

Luke 6:27-31 NLT

Do to others… as you would like them… to do to you…

Most of us are familiar with this… the Golden Rule…

But what about what comes before…?

Love your enemies… bless those who curse you… do good to those who hate you… pray for those who hurt you…

OK… quite possibly doable…

But that’s not all…

If you get smacked in the face… give them another target…

If they demand your jacket… ask them if they want your shirt too…

When anyone… ANYONE… asks for anything… ANYTHING… give it to them…

If they take it… under any circumstances… don’t try to get it back…

Then He says… Do to others… as you would like them… to do to you…

But first… be so gracious… so giving… so unaffected by evil… you show them love…

This was the lesson for second graders today… and if you take it to heart… it is quite shocking…

This evening at home… I read…

Christians in Asia who witness for Christ face fierce opposition from all levels of society: first, from their family or clan, as ancestor worship is prevalent in the region; second, from false religions that punish those who refuse to worship idols and spirits; and third from Communist and other tyrannical governments that are threatened by Christ, the true power Who exposes the lies that prop up their earthly rule.

—The Voice of the Martyrs Newsletter, November 2018

And it makes me wonder…

If Christians live as God calls them too… what does any unbeliever have to fear…?

If those who oppress… oppose… persecute… and kill… knew what their God taught… would they still want to destroy them…? fear them…? feel threatened by them…?

God is a God of grace and mercy… a God who gives… expecting nothing in return…

He calls His people to do the same… yet there are those who hate His children… fear their message and prayers…

The question which follows… Are they truly seeing His children…? live as He commands…?

“Love your enemies! Do good to them. Lend to them without expecting to be repaid. Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for he is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked.

Luke 6:35 NLT

If we lived such shocking lives of love… I wonder… What would happen…?

It might be quite shocking… to the world… and to us…