Matthew 5:43-48
Be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect. How so? Jesus does tell us this; God is impartial, loyal and committed. He has not discarded humanity because it has been giving him the cold shoulder (cf John 3:16). He has faithfully taken care of man and has provided for both, those who recognise and listen to Him and also those who who disregard him.
The next logical question is, “Is there any benefit to this or is it only a question of imitating God.” There is benefit for all who undertake this endeavour to imitate God. Man is in a situation where he is trying to catch his own tail, but is unsuccessful. He has wrapped himself so much that he does not realise the truth before him. Man seeks peace, yet goes around hating his brother, for all possible right reasons. But the action he takes does not give rise to love, but to doubt, then hate and then unrest. This is a vicious circle. To jump out of this trap man needs to accept loss in order to win. He needs to start accepting that his brothers and sisters, around him all are flawed, as much as he is flawed. That only the wisdom of Jesus can save them. That Only in loving his brother/sister can bring him peace. One needs not go outright with actions of reconciliation. We can start small and turn to Jesus and accept our own inability to truly love like God, but acknowledge that we do want to love like God. Next we can ask Jesus to bless us, bless the one who is hurting us and ask Jesus to help both ourselves to mend our broken relationship.
Great journeys, experiences and adventures begin with taking the first step. Today, let that step be the decision to Love everyone and to pray for everyone, even those who are hurting you.
