Matthew 5:38-42
Reflect
When Jesus says something like, “But I say to you …”, we better sit up and pay attention! He is speaking against a way of life that is largely embraced most everywhere throughout history. It’s the law of being ‘fair’. You hurt me, I hurt you. You are nice to me, I am nice to you. That’s fair. The natural way to respond in relationships is to be fair. Call it the law, call it karma, call it whatever you’d like. I promise you this: every relationship that you’ll ever be in will fail as long as we treat each other fairly. It’s the sure-fire recipe for disaster. Why? Because someone is going to mess up. Someone will blow it. When we are oriented toward being fair, we get stuck. We get stuck in what our parents did or didn’t do, what our friends did or didn’t do, what another person at church …at work… wherever… did or didn’t do. If we can’t transcend past whoever “failed” us, we will never transcend past the natural human condition. When we realize our only hope is that God does not treat us fairly, but rather treats us with grace, we are able to begin to live with grace towards others.
Apply
What is getting in the way of you being able to give to others more than you are getting from them? In any relationship, the one with the most maturity makes the first move. Are you still sitting there?
Pastor Dan
Pray
- Pray for the Prime Minister, Premier Kenney, Mayor Iveson, your MP, your MLA, and any other government officials God brings to mind.
- Pray for Dave Schneider, our Youth Ministry Pastor.
- Pray for Karen Alksne, our Congregational Life Intern.
- Pray for our Congregational Life Pastor, Mike Bartusek and his family.