Luke 6:35-36 (New Living Translation) Love your enemies! Do good to them. Lend to them without expecting to be repaid. Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for he is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked. 36 You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate.
The Amplified Bible brings it home, makes it easier to grasp what is being said.
Luke 6:35-36 (Amplified Bible) But love your enemies and be kind and do good [doing favors so that someone derives benefit from them] and lend, expecting and hoping for nothing in return but considering nothing as lost and despairing of no one; and then your recompense (your reward) will be great (rich, strong, intense, and abundant), and you will be sons of the Most High, for He is kind and charitable and good to the ungrateful and the selfish and wicked.
36So be merciful (sympathetic, tender, responsive, and compassionate) even as your Father is [all these].
Read the passage below, you will see that in verses 32 to 34 Luke that the "parity of bargaining" (Wansbrough) scratching each other's back, is not the way of Christ, of the Christian. He addresses love, doing good, and lending individually before bringing them together in today's verse culminating it in verse 36"So be merciful (sympathetic, tender, responsive, and compassionate) even as your Father is [all these]. "
To live this way, to "put on Christ" should be our goal in life, but we must realize that it is not something done in a calculated way, but down through a heart that is grounded in Christ being in submission to and led by His Spirit.
Our challenge as we go out today is to be willing to be love, do good, and to lend not only to others in general, but specifically to our enemies. Will you try to "live generously" as The Message describes below?
Blessings,
Mike
mikesvotd.blogspot.com
Luke 6:27-38 (The Message)
27-30"To you who are ready for the truth, I say this: Love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer for that person. If someone slaps you in the face, stand there and take it. If someone grabs your shirt, giftwrap your best coat and make a present of it. If someone takes unfair advantage of you, use the occasion to practice the servant life. No more tit-for-tat stuff. Live generously.
31-34"Here is a simple rule of thumb for behavior: Ask yourself what you want people to do for you; then grab the initiative and do it for them! If you only love the lovable, do you expect a pat on the back? Run-of-the-mill sinners do that. If you only help those who help you, do you expect a medal? Garden-variety sinners do that. If you only give for what you hope to get out of it, do you think that's charity? The stingiest of pawnbrokers does that.
35-36"I tell you, love your enemies. Help and give without expecting a return. You'll never—I promise—regret it. Live out this God-created identity the way our Father lives toward us, generously and graciously, even when we're at our worst. Our Father is kind; you be kind.
37-38"Don't pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults— unless, of course, you want the same treatment. Don't condemn those who are down; that hardness can boomerang. Be easy on people; you'll find life a lot easier. Give away your life; you'll find life given back, but not merely given back—given back with bonus and blessing. Giving, not getting, is the way. Generosity begets generosity."
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