Responding to a Sermon

"I went to church the other day and heard a sermon. It was like many sermons I’ve heard in the past, giving a very moral point of view. The point was: “Love your neighbor but hate your enemy.” Well, that’s one point of view. That’s one morality. Here’s another: Love everyone, even those who hate you.

"If someone is in the process of destroying you, pray for their peace.
 If someone insults you, say good things about them.
If you don’t get along with someone, do good things for them (especially if they don’t deserve it)
Do this because this is what God does.

"You see, God sees the hearts and actions of every person, and knows who they really are. And he looks down and gives them all sunshine and rain and blessing. Every. Single. One. Even ISIS. Even the thief who took your car. Even the guy who curses God’s name on a regular basis. Even the cop who arrested you for no good reason. God grants them all peace and food and love. Every. Single. One.

"Now, we claim to be God’s children. But are we? If we only love people who love us, how can we claim to be godly? If we give only to the people who are in our in group, how can we claim to be like God?

"Here’s the deal, if you want the fullness of what God has to give you, then show love to everyone, without exclusion, like God."
-Jesus 

 (Matthew 5:43-48 with some help from Luke 6:27-30, SKV)