To open today's article, let's look at Matthew 5:44-45 together.
"But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust."
You probably understand what the verse is saying, because it's a very simple concept. However, let's look at it deeply.
A way to interpret this verse is that God blesses and curses both good and bad people in due time. However, both sun and rain are blessings. Having lived in Texas my entire life, rain doesn't always come when it's needed. Last year there was a terrible drought, and we had to conserve water and even electricity at one point. Rain is a blessing, because it quenches the thirst of the earth and the animals that God made.
Now, just like the rain, we are supposed to be good to good and bad people. There's no glory gained if we're nice to those who are nice to us. That's so easy even bad guys do that (Matthew 5:46-47). Think of it this way: our kind acts are blue paint, and we only paint the objects that are all ready blue. What's the point in that? But, if we paint the black objects, or the brown objects, or even the red objects, then it makes a difference.
So, today, be nice to someone mean to you. To you, it might not be saying the words that your tongue is wishing to fling. If you show kindness to someone who is unkind, it might alter their life completely. Or, it might not. You never know. It's not your place to know. Jesus simply told us to be kind to those who are unkind to us.
And that includes our big or little brothers :)
~Sarah
~Sarah
