Note: On Tuesdays, you can find me at Your Daily Tripod, owned by my friend TonyD. A longer version of the post below appears there.
“For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?7 And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?” (Matthew 5:46-47, NRSVCE)
Don’t expect a pat on the back or a big “atta-girl” or “atta-boy” from the Lord because you sacrifice for a beloved member of your family or a friend.
And for that matter, don’t expect that pat on the back if you sacrifice for and love someone who has knowingly or unknowingly frustrated and betrayed and undercut you at every turn.
In Matthew 5, Jesus tells us to love everyone and be perfect as our heavenly Father is, and wouldn’t that be so much easier if every once in a while, God stopped and told us He recognized just how much it
took for us to greet the woman who stole our husband or the colleague who beat us out for a job or the neighbor who with seemingly little effort has the perfect family and the perfect yard?
The thing is, we may think it’s about us and the other person and learning to control some not-very-pretty emotions, and needing an immediate Spirit-filled round of applause. (It may also come as a surprise to us the others have to control some not-very-pretty emotions about our behaviors.) It never is. It’s about God and His desire that like Him, we all love unconditionally. That means getting rid of the but—you know it. “I love you/him/her, but…” and its companion, “I know I’m supposed to love you/him/her, but…” End every thought and sentence before the but. The other person likely won’t notice. You will, and as time goes on, you’ll mean it… and won’t go looking for God’s delight, because you will know it’s there.
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