Matthew 5: 45
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”
45 so that you may prove yourselves to be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
We looked at verses 43 and 44 of Matthew 5 yesterday which contained Jesus’ directive to us to love and pray for our enemies. In verse 45, Jesus tells us why he requires a love lifestyle out of us. The first reason is so that we might prove ourselves children of His Highness, the Father. When we show love, especially in situations when it is atypical, we demonstrate what it means to be a child of the Most High. We show what it means to have the love of God working in us but also the strength of the Holy Spirit because it takes his kind of strength to love those who harass you.
Second, when we operate from a position of love, even to those not presently of the Kingdom, we act as our Father acts because He gives rain to their crops as well as ours. He causes the sun to shine on them as well as us. He does not show partiality but rather extends His love to all His children, even those who don’t love Him or have abandoned Him.
Yesterday was Ash Wednesday and so despite the very frigid temperatures, we are assured that Easter is on its way. As we begin to think about Easter and all it means, there is no better time to contemplate the love of God and what it meant and what it means to a hurting world.