“But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. 29 To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either.
When seeing a child act out and become disruptive, many will say to their neighbor, “I blame the parents.” This means that a child will reflect the environment in which they are born. There are limits to this but it is true to a point. It is also true of our human nature. We are born into sin so we act out our sin nature. In the Christian walk, however, there should be a different scenario. When God is our Father, our love for him should be reflected in our treatment of others. This was borne out in our Bible Study as David was able to respect Saul even though he was trying to kill him. In the “Sermon on the Plain” from Luke 6, Jesus gave instructions to his disciples on behavior that would be visible evidence of who their Father is
People in the world worship themselves and this self worship was modeled in most cases by their parents. We can blame their parents therefore. Those of us who follow Jesus, however, can bear visible fruit to those around us of the Holy Spirit. They can look at us and see our behavior, knowing where it came from, and attribute it to God. In other words, when we treat others like Jesus commands us, people should be able to say…
I know their Father.
Pastor Brad Boyer
Cape Community Church